Who Is Isa Ali Pantami, Nigeria’s Disputed Gombe Candidate
NIGERIA · PROFILE
Key Facts
- —The country Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, chooses its state governors on Saturday, 6 February 2027, three weeks after the presidential vote.
- —Who he is A Gombe-born computer scientist and cleric who headed Nigeria’s IT agency from 2016, then served as a minister from 2019 to 2023.
- —What happened On Monday, 12 October, his lawyers gave the electoral commission until Wednesday, 14 October, to put him on the Gombe governorship list.
- —His party He left the ruling All Progressives Congress in May 2026 and became the opposition PDP’s nominee for Gombe governor days later.
- —Prediction markets On Polymarket, bets put the ruling party’s Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna at 58.5% to win Gombe (13 October, 5:20 a.m. ET).
- —Still open The commission has not explained in public why his name is missing from its final list.
Isa Ali Pantami, a former Nigerian minister and Islamic cleric, is fighting to get onto the ballot for governor of Gombe State. On Monday, 12 October, his lawyers gave the electoral commission until Wednesday, 14 October, to publish his name.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) left him off its final list of 16 Gombe candidates on 10 October, without giving a reason. Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, votes for president in January and for governors three weeks later.
Who Is Isa Ali Pantami
Isa Ali Pantami was born and raised in Gombe State in north-eastern Nigeria, according to a 2016 government statement reported by ThisDay. He studied computer science at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in nearby Bauchi.
He added a master’s in computer science in 2008 and, the statement said, an MBA in technology in 2010. Daily Trust and Techpoint Africa reported that his doctorate came from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland.
He taught at the Bauchi university for more than a decade. He then lectured in computer and information systems at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, ThisDay and The Guardian Nigeria reported.
In September 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari made him head of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the federal IT agency. The 2016 statement called him an “ICT Specialist, teacher, Islamic Cleric and Development Activist”.
From 2019 to 2023 Isa Ali Pantami sat in Buhari’s cabinet as minister of communications and digital economy. His lawyers’ 12 October letter uses his full name, “Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim”, TheCable reported.
The 2021 Storm Over His Old Sermons
In April 2021, while Isa Ali Pantami was minister, recordings of sermons he gave in the late 1990s and 2000s resurfaced. Peoples Gazette reported one in which he prayed for victory for the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
The same outlet reported a 2006 speech offering condolences for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq. It said the recordings had appeared in a 2019 academic study.
TheCable reported that in those videos he opposed Boko Haram, the jihadist group fighting in Nigeria’s north-east. He backed some of what al-Qaeda and the Taliban preached, it added.
On 17 April 2021 he recanted in a Ramadan lecture, saying: “I was young when I made some of the comments.” He added: “I have changed several positions taken in the past based on new evidence and maturity.”
Days earlier, the Nigerian news site NewsWire had carried a report that he was on a US terror watch list. NewsWire later apologised for republishing it, saying an audit found “no direct attribution” by a US government agency, The Guardian Nigeria reported.
Pantami said “major publishers will meet my lawyers in the court on this defamation of character”. Peoples Gazette also reported his threat to sue over the watch-list story.
How He Switched Parties to Run in Gombe
Isa Ali Pantami first sought the governorship in the All Progressives Congress (APC), President Bola Tinubu’s party, which runs Gombe under Governor Inuwa Yahaya.
Premium Times reported that he quit the APC over a consensus deal, arranged by the governor, that picked Jamilu Gwamna as candidate.
At the APC primary on 21 May, Gwamna won 247,161 votes and Pantami 12,120, Sahara Reporters and the state broadcaster Voice of Nigeria reported. The committee chairman, Senator Sani Danladi, said Pantami’s withdrawal notice came after the process had begun, so his name stayed on the ballot.
Pantami had pulled out “under protest” days earlier, saying the primary lacked transparency, Channels Television reported.
Days later Isa Ali Pantami joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which ruled Nigeria from 1999 to 2015 and is now in opposition. On 26 May a party panel declared him its sole aspirant and nominee by voice vote, The Guardian Nigeria reported.
“The PDP ruled in Gombe for 16 years from 2003 to 2019,” he said, according to Premium Times. He promised to “build on the legacy that has been established earlier”.
That ticket did not last: a federal court in Gombe annulled the May primary on 24 September, Daily Trust reported. He won the court-ordered rerun on 29 September.
Why the Isa Ali Pantami Case Draws National Attention
With Pantami off INEC’s final Gombe list, the PDP has no candidate in the race, a gap that emerged on 10 October. A former federal minister fighting the election referee turns a state dispute into a national test.
Ahmed Raji, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who leads his legal team, wrote that striking off a nominated candidate “is exclusively a judicial act”. INEC’s role at primaries, the letter says, is to observe and report, “not to disqualify, and not to cherry-pick”.
The Hausa-language newspaper Aminiya called the letter a deadline for INEC to put his name on the list of Gombe governorship candidates.
A separate explainer on the Gombe candidate list fight sets out the legal steps. Background pieces cover who holds power in Nigeria and its 103 million registered voters.
What Prediction Markets Say
Bets on the Gombe governorship on Polymarket add up to about US$16,600, a small market. They price the APC’s Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna at 58.5% (13 October, 5:20 a.m. ET).
Pantami is not one of the named options, and nothing traded in the 24 hours before that reading.
Why we show this: prediction markets turn real-money bets into a live probability that moves within minutes of the news, which is why investors, campaigns and newsrooms in the United States now follow them closely. We show them next to polls and official results, never instead of them.
What It Means for US Readers
As minister, Isa Ali Pantami oversaw Nigeria’s telecoms and internet sector, where US technology firms do business. A win in Gombe would put a former federal policymaker in charge of a north-eastern state.
The 2027 vote will shape how Nigeria treats US investors, lenders and diplomats. His case also tests whether INEC defers to the courts on who may stand before polling day.
What Is Not Known
INEC has given no public reason for leaving Isa Ali Pantami off the Gombe list. It has not said whether it will meet Wednesday’s deadline.
Joash Amupitan, the INEC chairman to whom the letter was addressed, has not replied in public. The letter does not say what the lawyers will do if the deadline passes.
They expressed optimism that INEC would take “immediate corrective action”, TheCable reported.
More on this story: Nigeria's Gombe Candidate List Fight Over Pantami Explained.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Isa Ali Pantami?
He is a Nigerian computer scientist and Islamic cleric from Gombe State. He led the national IT agency from 2016 and was minister of communications and digital economy from 2019 to 2023.
Which party is Pantami running for?
The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) picked him as its Gombe governorship nominee. He left the ruling All Progressives Congress in May 2026 in protest at a consensus deal that made Jamilu Gwamna its candidate, Premium Times reported.
Where did Pantami study?
He earned his first degree and a 2008 master’s in computer science at Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi. His doctorate came from Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, Daily Trust reported.
What controversy did Pantami face in 2021?
Recordings of old sermons resurfaced in which, Nigerian outlets reported, he voiced support for the Taliban and al-Qaeda. He recanted on 17 April 2021, saying he had changed positions “based on new evidence and maturity”.
When does Gombe elect its governor?
Gombe votes for governor on Saturday, 6 February 2027, according to INEC’s calendar. That is three weeks after the presidential election on 16 January.
Sources: TheCable, 12 October 2026; Aminiya, 12 October 2026; Daily Trust, 13 October 2026; INEC, final list of candidates, Gombe governorship election, 10 October 2026; INEC election calendar, 13 October 2026; The Guardian Nigeria, 26 May 2026; Premium Times (via AllAfrica), 27 May 2026; Sahara Reporters, 21 May 2026; TheCable, 17 April 2021; Peoples Gazette, 14 April 2021; The Guardian Nigeria, 12 April 2021; Technext, 21 August 2019; ThisDay, 3 October 2016; The Guardian Nigeria, October 2016; Daily Trust, 23 July 2019; Techpoint Africa, 31 July 2019; Voice of Nigeria, 22 May 2026; Channels Television, 19 May 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief