PDP Expels Two Gombe Governorship Aspirants Over Party Issues

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has kicked out two of its governorship aspirants in Gombe State, Khamisu Mailantarki and Usman Garry. They were expelled for alleged anti-party activities and breaching the party’s rules.

This announcement was made on Monday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Jungudo Mohammed.

Mailantarki and Garry contested the Gombe governorship primaries but lost to Isa Pantami, a former minister of Communications and Digital Economy.

The PDP had to hold two governorship primaries in Gombe State. This happened after a court cancelled the first one, which had named Mr Pantami as the candidate for the 2027 election.

The first primary took place on 26 May. Mr Pantami became the party’s candidate after he switched from the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Other aspirants like Mailantarki and Garry claimed the process was unfair and did not include all eligible candidates.

On 24 September, the Federal High Court in Gombe, led by Justice Amina Mohammed, declared the primary invalid. The court ordered the party to hold another election within 30 days.

The court found that the first primary did not meet the party’s rules and election laws. Some screened aspirants were left out of the process.

Despite this, the court did not disqualify Mr Pantami from the PDP or invalidate his party membership.

The rerun was held on 29 September across 11 local government areas in the state. Once again, Mr Pantami was declared the winner after getting the most votes.

Mailantarki and Garry disagreed with parts of the rerun, but they had different concerns.

Mailantarki questioned Mr Pantami’s right to run. He claimed Pantami joined the PDP after the party had sent its list of candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He also raised issues about Pantami’s participation in the APC primaries before switching parties.

He insisted that the contest should have been between him and Mr Garry and that he should be declared the winner once Pantami’s votes were removed.

Garry, on his part, alleged that there were problems during voting in his area. He claimed he was stopped from voting and that only five votes from his supporters were counted after he insisted on voting.

For rejecting the rerun results, the Gombe PDP suspended both aspirants for one month. They were referred to the party’s disciplinary committee.

Meanwhile, Garry is still challenging Mr Pantami’s candidacy in court. He wants to join an ongoing case where Mr Pantami and the PDP are suing INEC. This case is about Mr Pantami’s eligibility to run in the PDP primary and INEC's earlier decision to leave him off the candidate list for the 2027 Gombe governorship election.

In the expulsion notice, Mr Mohammed said the decision came after the party’s disciplinary committee found the two guilty of anti-party activities.

"Their expulsion followed the findings of the Party’s Disciplinary Committee and due consideration by the relevant organs of the Party, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the Peoples Democratic Party (as amended in 2017), particularly Section 57, Section 58(1), and Section 59, which deal with offences and disciplinary measures."

He continued, "The affected persons were found to have engaged in conduct inconsistent with the Party’s Constitution, including anti-party activities, gross misconduct, and acts capable of bringing the Party into disrepute, contrary to Section 58(1)(a), (b), (h) and (j) of the PDP Constitution."

Mr Mohammed also stated that the decision was made following fair hearing principles outlined in the party’s constitution and the Nigerian Constitution.

"The decision was taken in strict compliance with the principles of fair hearing as enshrined in Section 57(6) of the Party Constitution and Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)."

"Accordingly, by virtue of Section 59(1)(j) of the PDP Constitution, Hon. Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki and Hon. Usman Aliyu Garry cease to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party and shall have no rights, privileges, or affiliation with the Party at any level."

The PDP spokesperson urged all members to avoid actions that could harm the party.

"The Party reiterates that its Constitution remains supreme and binding on all members. No member, regardless of status, is above the party’s laws and disciplinary framework."

He added, "The party urges all members to remain loyal, disciplined, and committed to the ideals of the PDP and to work together to strengthen the Party at all levels."