The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has condemned the exclusion of Prof. Ibrahim Isa Ali Pantami from the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) final list of Gombe State governorship candidates, describing it as an act of impunity and contempt of court. The group, at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, accused INEC Chairman Prof. Joash Amupitan of personal and religiously motivated responsibility for the omission.
MURIC's Allegations and Demand for Action
MURIC Founder and Executive Director Prof. Ishaq Akintola alleged that INEC deliberately dropped Pantami from the list despite his victory in a fresh primary election. The group passed a vote of no confidence in the INEC chairman and urged President Bola Tinubu to appoint a replacement described as detribalised and religiously neutral.
“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 said. The group also referenced Amupitan's past legal work, alleging that he had prepared an 80-page brief containing what MURIC described as falsehoods about Nigerian Muslims, which informed a United States classification of Nigeria as a country of special concern.
How Pantami's Candidacy Unfolded
Pantami was the sole PDP governorship aspirant in Gombe as of May 2026 and was affirmed by voice vote on May 26, 2026, at a primary chaired by the party's state electoral committee chairman, Gregory Yenlong. A Federal High Court later nullified that primary and ordered a fresh one. The re-run, held on September 29, 2026, saw Pantami win decisively with 2,054 votes, ahead of Khamisu Mailantarki, who scored 389 votes, and Aliyu Garry, who scored 112 votes.
MURIC said INEC monitored the fresh primary through a team led by Mr Gambo Umar Arabi, who signed and submitted an official report, raising questions about the commission's grounds for subsequently disowning the outcome. “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.
Allegations of Religious Bias and Political Context
The group drew attention to the fact that several Christian clerics currently serve as state governors, including Pastor Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Apostle Bassey Otu of Cross River, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia of Benue, and Pastor Agbu Kefas of Taraba, and asked why an Islamic scholar should face barriers to contesting for the same office. “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.
Akintola noted that it had previously objected to Amupitan's appointment, alongside the Supreme Council for Shariah in Nigeria, and said recent events had vindicated that position. MURIC described itself as a non-partisan Islamic human rights organisation focused on protecting the fundamental rights of Nigerian Muslims regardless of their political affiliations.
Pantami's Ultimatum and Next Steps
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Pantami issued a three-day ultimatum to INEC after his name was left off the final 2027 Gombe governorship candidates list. Pantami's lawyers said he won a fresh PDP primary on September 29, 2026, monitored by INEC officials, after a court ordered the party to rerun. INEC published the final list on October 10, 2026, without including Pantami's name and gave no reason for the omission. The omission has sparked a political dispute that now awaits a response from both INEC and the presidency.
