Former minister, Isa Pantami breaks down in tears after being denied APC governorship ticket

• Isa Pantami rejected the APC consensus process that produced Jamilu Gwamna.

• Video showed emotional reactions after the governorship ticket dispute.

• Pantami described the process as unlawful and against the Electoral Act.

• A similar incident recently happened in Kwara involving an APC assembly aspirant.

The crisis began after the All Progressives Congress in Gombe announced businessman Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna as its consensus governorship candidate ahead of the 2027 elections. 

Pantami, who was one of the governorship aspirants, immediately rejected the process, describing it as unlawful and inconsistent with the Electoral Act. 

According to him, a valid consensus arrangement can only stand if all cleared aspirants voluntarily agree in writing to step down.

Speaking through members of the Pantamiyya Movement, the former minister accused party leaders of conducting what he described as a “coronation” rather than a democratic process. 

Pantami also insisted that the process violated provisions of the Electoral Act and contradicted directives of the party’s national leadership. 

Similarly, an APC State House of Assembly aspirant in Kwara State, Abdulmajeed Abdulfatai Arikewuyo, recently broke down in tears after being excluded from the list of candidates released from Ilorin South-West despite submitting his letter of intention.

In a viral video, the emotional aspirant lamented that after all his “sweat and effort,” his name was omitted because he was “a nobody.”

RELATED: Former Power Minister Missing after court finds him guilty of N33.8bn money laundering, fraud

The incident sparked reactions online, with many Nigerians debating the fairness of internal party politics and the growing influence of political godfathers in candidate selection processes.

Pantami has since vowed to challenge the Gombe consensus arrangement through all lawful means, signalling what could become a major political showdown within the APC in the state.