2027 Governorship Election: Pantami, Adebutu’s Fate Uncertain

By Akinwale Kasali

Oladipupo Adebutu and Isa Pantami’s hope of vying for the Governorship Seat of Ogun State and Gombe State respectively at the forthcoming 2027 Elections remains uncertain, following the expiration on the October 24th, 2026 deadline set by electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for addressing complaints over the omission of candidates from its final list for the 2027 elections.

Recall that the  Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, had both complained to INEC about the exclusion of their candidates from the list of those qualified to participate by it.

But the Commission was yet to indicate whether it will revise the list following the parties’ representations or not at the expiry of its dateline.

Following this development, the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Pantami, Adebutu and the NDC Governorship candidate in Kano State, Aminu Gwarzo, are uncertain about their participation in the February 6, 2027 Governorship elections.

Recall that INEC had come out to clear the air over their omission from the Governorship List, attributing their exclusions to the Supreme Court judgment in INEC v. Zenith Labour Party, delivered on September 24, 2026, which upheld Sections 77(5), 77(6) and 77(7) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

The provisions require political parties to submit their membership registers to the commission within the stipulated period and use the registers for their primaries, congresses and conventions.

The commission subsequently gave political parties until October 24 to notify it of candidates allegedly omitted from the final list, which was published on October 10, in line with Section 32(2) of the Electoral Act, 2026.

However, the affected parties insist that they complied with the requirements and urged the commission to correct what they describe as wrongful omissions.

The PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mohammed Jungudo

had maintained that the Party fulfilled the requirements for the nomination of its Governorship Candidates in Gombe and Ogun states, stressing that the PDP leadership and the affected candidates’ legal teams had approached INEC over the omissions.

He said the party would consider legal action if the commission failed to resolve the matter within the 14-day window.

The PDP had, through its National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, deposed to an affidavit at the Federal High Court Registry in Abuja, challenging the omission of Pantami and Adebutu from the final list.

The affidavit stated that the candidates had met the relevant requirements and urged INEC to restore their names.

It was gathered that Pantami had approached the Court over his omission.

According to an aide to the former Minister, “Pantami’s lawyers had written to INEC, demanding that the commission address the omission.

“Malam has chosen to fight this illegality. We have appealed this illegality. You saw the letter written by Senior Advocates of Nigeria and their 72-hour order. We have chosen to appeal this case, and until we get a solution, we will not back out,” the aide said.

Similarly, the NDC also rejected the exclusion of its Kano State Governorship candidate, Aminu Gwarzo, and his running mate, Mustapha Rabiu Kwankwaso.

The Party’s National Publicity Secretary, Osa Director, said that the NDC had written to INEC and received acknowledgements of its letters but was yet to receive a substantive response.

He said the party would explore legal options if the commission failed to address the omission.