The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of religious bias following the omission of former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Pantami, from the list of candidates for the 2027 Gombe State governorship election.
Pantami emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate after a fresh primary election on September 29. However, his name was missing from the final list published by INEC on October 10.
MURIC’s Founder and Executive Director, Professor Ishaq Akintola, made the allegation at a press conference in Lagos on Tuesday, October 13, demanding that the commission reinstate Pantami’s name.
Akintola also called on President Bola Tinubu to remove INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, expressing concerns about the commission’s impartiality.
“We pass a vote of no confidence in Professor Amupitan,” Akintola said.
The organisation questioned why an Islamic scholar seeking elective office should be excluded when Christian clerics have served as governors in several Nigerian states.
Akintola cited governors who are Christian clerics as examples, arguing that religious leaders should have equal opportunities to participate in politics, regardless of their faith.
MURIC also questioned INEC’s handling of the PDP primary that produced Pantami as its candidate.
The organisation said the initial primary, held on May 26, was nullified by a Federal High Court, which ordered the party to conduct a fresh exercise.
Pantami subsequently won the rerun on September 29, polling 2,054 votes against 389 for Khamisu Mailantarki and 112 for Aliyu Garry, according to reports of the primary.
MURIC maintained that INEC officials monitored the fresh exercise and questioned the commission’s decision to omit Pantami from the final list.
In a separate move, Pantami’s legal team wrote to INEC, demanding that the commission publish his name as the PDP governorship candidate.
The lawyers challenged the commission’s authority to exclude their client, arguing that its role during party primaries was limited to monitoring the process.
“The Commission’s role in primaries is to attend, observe, monitor and report, not to disqualify, and not to cherry-pick,” the lawyers stated.
The legal team gave INEC a deadline of October 14 to publish Pantami’s name, warning that the omission could lead to further legal action.
However, INEC has offered a different explanation for the omission.
In a statement reported on October 14, the commission said the PDP failed to comply with statutory requirements concerning the submission of party membership registers, making it ineligible to sponsor candidates in the affected elections.
INEC said its decision followed a Supreme Court ruling upholding the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act 2026 and the requirement for political parties to submit their membership registers within the stipulated period.
The commission also said political parties that believe their candidates were wrongly omitted have until October 24 to notify it of their complaints.
