The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has cleared Isa Pantami, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Gombe State, to contest the 2027 election.
Mohammed Haruna, INEC’s chairman of information and voter education, confirmed the development in an interview with TheCable on Friday, saying the commission had considered Pantami’s petition and ruled in his favour.
However, Haruna noted that Pantami’s candidacy remains subject to the outcome of a pending court case.
He also disclosed that INEC rejected a petition filed by Ladi Adebutu, the PDP governorship candidate in Ogun State, who had challenged his exclusion from the list of candidates.
“Those ones that I can tell you immediately. That of Kano in NNPP was successful; Pantami was successful, but you know that there are pending cases and it depends on the outcomes of the court cases, but Ladi Adebutu did not succeed this phase,” Haruna said.
“We have a list, I will check the list and crosscheck for you.”
In a statement issued on Thursday, INEC announced that it had approved 66 petitions challenging the final lists of candidates for the 2027 governorship and state houses of assembly elections.
Haruna explained that the commission also approved the removal of candidates whose names were mistakenly included in the lists or whose nominations failed to satisfy the relevant legal requirements.
According to him, INEC received 69 petitions from 12 political parties across 26 states concerning governorship candidates.
“The commission also approved the removal of candidates whose nominations were found to be inconsistent with the applicable legal requirements. In particular, the decisions affecting state houses of assembly candidates sponsored by political parties were informed by specific complaints received and determined in accordance with the law and the Commission’s established criteria,” the statement reads.
“In summary, a total of 69 petitions were received from 12 political parties across 26 states for the governorship election. Forty-one of the petitions succeeded while 28 failed.
“Similarly, for the state houses of assembly, 61 petitions were received from 11 political parties across 11 states. Twenty-five succeeded while 36 failed.
“The affected candidates, political parties and states will be reflected in the updated list on the commission’s website.”
Background
Pantami and Adebutu were among prominent governorship aspirants excluded from INEC’s final list of candidates released in October.
The final list for Ogun State contained 13 governorship candidates, while Gombe State had 16. However, neither list included a PDP candidate.