By Musa Baba Adamu
A team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), led by Ahmed Raji, has given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) until Wednesday, October 14, to publish the name of Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for the 2027 Gombe State governorship election.
The lawyers, in a letter dated October 12, 2026, described the omission of Ibrahim’s name from INEC’s final list of candidates released on October 10 as “unlawful and unexplained.”
The letter, addressed to the INEC chairman, was written on behalf of Ibrahim and the PDP.
The legal team said Ibrahim initially emerged as the PDP governorship candidate in a primary held on May 26, 2026, before the Federal High Court, Gombe, nullified the exercise over issues relating to its conduct and ordered a fresh primary.
According to the lawyers, the court did not disqualify Ibrahim on grounds of party membership or eligibility.
They cited two separate suits, FHC/GM/CS/9/2026 and FHC/GM/CS/10/2026, in which the court considered challenges to his PDP membership.
Quoting one of the judgments, the lawyers said: “The Plaintiff has not established that the 3rd Defendant was legally incapable of being recognized by the 1st Defendant as its member.”
In the second case, the court reportedly held that the absence of Ibrahim’s name from a particular membership register was not conclusive proof that he was not a party member.
“As to PDP membership, even though the 2nd Defendant’s name does not appear in Exhibit A, that fact alone is not conclusive of his non-membership,” the lawyers quoted the court as saying.
Following the court’s directive, the PDP conducted a fresh governorship primary on September 29, which was monitored by INEC officials. Ibrahim emerged winner and was again submitted to the commission as the party’s candidate, the letter stated.
The lawyers said INEC officials attended and monitored the exercise, adding that the commission had the monitoring report in its custody.
They argued that the fresh primary complied with the Electoral Act, the PDP constitution and its electoral guidelines.
The legal team also maintained that INEC lacked the authority to remove a nominated candidate’s name without a judicial basis, citing previous Supreme Court and Court of Appeal decisions.
“The Commission’s role in primaries is to attend, observe, monitor and report, not to disqualify, and not to cherry-pick,” the letter stated.
The lawyers therefore demanded that INEC publish Ibrahim’s name as the PDP candidate for the Gombe governorship election by October 14.
They insisted that the publication should be made “in the same manner and with the same prominence as the names of all other candidates published on the 10th day of October, 2026.”
The letter was signed by Ahmed Raji, SAN; A.T. Kehinde, SAN; Abdul Mohammed, SAN; Wale Balogun, SAN; and Chief Tunde Falola, Esq.
However, INEC’s response to the demand was not included in the letter.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
