The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on President Bola Tinubu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intervene in the exclusion of Professor Ibrahim Isa Ali Pantami from the list of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidates in Gombe State, warning that failure to reinstate his name could have serious consequences.
The Islamic human rights organisation accused INEC of unlawfully omitting Pantami’s name despite a court-ordered fresh governorship primary, which it said the former minister won by a wide margin.
Speaking at a press conference at the organisation’s headquarters in Lagos on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, MURIC’s Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, demanded Pantami’s immediate reinstatement and called on Tinubu to intervene in the interest of fairness, justice and credible elections ahead of the 2027 general election.
MURIC also passed a vote of no confidence in INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, over the commission’s handling of the matter.
According to Akintola, a Federal High Court had nullified the initial PDP primary and ordered a fresh exercise, which was conducted on September 29, 2026.
He said Pantami polled 2,054 votes to defeat Khamisu Mailantarki, who scored 389 votes, and Aliyu Garry, who secured 112 votes.
The organisation further claimed that INEC monitored the fresh primary through a team led by Mr Gambo Umar Arabi, who signed and submitted an official report on the exercise.
“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,” MURIC said.
The group alleged that religious considerations influenced the handling of Pantami’s candidature and accused Amupitan of bias. However, the allegations were presented by MURIC and were not independently established in the statement.
Akintola linked the controversy to an 80-page legal brief which the group alleged Amupitan had sent to the United States concerning allegations of religious persecution in Nigeria. MURIC argued that the document raised questions about the INEC chairman’s neutrality.
The organisation also cited Christian clerics who currently serve as governors, including Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Bassey Otu of Cross River, Hyacinth Alia of Benue and Agbu Kefas of Taraba, questioning why an Islamic scholar should face opposition to his governorship ambition.
“We put it to INEC that its chairman has a ‘Candidate of Special Concern’ and it is no other than Professor Isa Ali Pantami,” Akintola said.
MURIC recalled that it had earlier opposed Amupitan’s appointment as INEC chairman, alongside the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, insisting that the controversy surrounding Pantami’s candidature had reinforced its concerns.
The group urged Tinubu to appoint what it described as a religiously neutral and non-partisan individual to lead the electoral commission.
“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,” the organisation declared.
It maintained that it was a non-partisan Islamic human rights organisation committed to protecting the fundamental rights of Nigerian Muslims across political parties.
The controversy comes as political parties and electoral institutions prepare for the 2027 general election, with the dispute over the PDP ticket in Gombe State raising questions about compliance with court orders and the procedures governing the recognition of candidates.
