The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has demanded the immediate reinstatement of Prof. Ibrahim Isa Ali Pantami as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State, following his omission from the list of candidates by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
At a press conference held at its headquarters in Lagos on Tuesday, MURIC Founder and Executive Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, described the omission as illegal, unjust and contempt of court.
Akintola recalled that Pantami emerged as the sole governorship aspirant of the PDP in Gombe in May 2026 and was affirmed by voice vote on May 26, presided over by the party’s electoral committee chairman for the state, Gregory Yenlong.
He said the primary was later nullified by a Federal High Court, which ordered a fresh exercise.
According to MURIC, the fresh primary was conducted on September 29, 2026, where Pantami polled 2,054 votes to defeat Khamisu Mailantarki and Aliyu Garry, who scored 389 and 112 votes, respectively. The group said the exercise was monitored by INEC officials led by Mr Gambo Umar Arabi, who signed and submitted an official report.
“On what ground is INEC disowning a process it was part of? The presence of INEC at the PDP primary which produced Pantami proves beyond any reasonable doubt that both Pantami and his party went through due process,” Akintola said.
MURIC accused INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, of orchestrating the omission and alleged religious bias against Islamic scholars contesting higher offices.
The group linked the INEC chairman to an 80-page legal brief it claimed was sent to the United States and contributed to Nigeria being designated a Country of Particular Concern over alleged Christian genocide.
The organisation further alleged that the INEC chairman was pursuing a hidden agenda.
“While President Tinubu is working very hard on economic reform, Amupitan is pursuing his hidden agenda in INEC, namely, to weed out Islamic scholars among the candidates of the 2027 general elections, particularly those vying for higher offices like the governorship post,” Akintola said.
He added: “We said it a long time ago. A man who took it upon himself to write an 80-page legal brief replete with falsehoods against Nigerian Muslims, based on which the United States labelled Nigeria as a country of special concern, cannot be a good electoral umpire.”
MURIC cited instances of Christian clerics serving as governors, including Pastor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Senator Bassey Otu of Cross River, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia of Benue and Pastor Agbu Kefas of Taraba, questioning why an Islamic scholar should be excluded in Gombe.
“We put it to INEC that its chairman has a ‘Candidate of Special Concern’ and it is no other than Professor Isa Ali Pantami,” he said.
The group said it had earlier opposed Amupitan’s appointment as INEC chairman alongside the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, and that the handling of Pantami’s case had vindicated its stance. It consequently passed a vote of no confidence in the chairman and called on President Bola Tinubu to appoint a detribalised and religiously neutral replacement.
“MURIC demands the immediate reinstatement of the name of Professor Ibrahim Isa Ali Pantami as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Gombe State,” Akintola declared, stressing that MURIC is a non-partisan Islamic human rights organisation concerned with the protection of the fundamental rights of Muslims across political parties.
