…says Supreme Court judgement bars ex-minister from participating in party’s primary
A gubernatorial aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party in Gombe State, Khamisu Ahmed Mailantarki, on Tuesday, declared himself the winner of the primary election conducted by the party.
Earlier on Tuesday, the PDP had conducted a rerun primary election, where Isa Ali Pantami was declared the winner by Hon. Johnbull Tiemlong Shekarau-led Committee.
But Mailantarki, who addressed newsmen shortly after the election results were announced, declared that going by the Supreme Court judgement, Pantami shouldn’t have participated in the election.
“Therefore, having come second in the election, and going by the Supreme Court judgement which declared Pantami not eligible to contest the election, I believe that I am the winner of this primary election conducted today by our party,” he said.
He claimed that Pantami was still in the All Progressives Congress when they were cleared by the PDP screening committee to contest in the primary election earlier slated for May 26.
He said the election should have been contested by only him and the third runner-up, Usman Aliyu Garry.
Mailantarki vowed to reclaim his mandate, even if it takes going through litigation in court.
The aggrieved aspirant declared, “I am ready to go to court, even it if means going to the Supreme Court to reclaim my victory at the just concluded primary election.”
Mailantarki’s previous suit triggered the nullification of Pantami’s earlier victory, as a Federal High Court in Gombe annulled the previous primary exercise and ordered the conduct of a fresh primary, which held on Tuesday.
