A legal practitioner and public affairs analyst, Fatimah Usman Zagga, has described the fresh Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primary election won by Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami on September 29, 2026, as a "legal triumph" and a blessing in disguise. Zagga stated that recent judicial pronouncements on Pantami's political future had been widely misinterpreted. She urged the public and media practitioners to rely on the Certified True Copies (CTCs) of judgments before drawing conclusions.
Zagga reviewed the CTC of the Federal High Court judgment, which showed that the court nullified the primary election that produced Pantami on May 26, 2026, due to procedural non-compliance. However, the court did not disqualify him or award the ticket to another aspirant. Instead, it ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh primary election, returning the power to choose its candidate to the party and its delegates.
The lawyer argued that the distinction between the court's order and a disqualification was legally significant. An order for a fresh election was fundamentally different from an order disqualifying a candidate. The fresh primary conducted on September 29 provided the PDP and Pantami with an opportunity to correct the procedural defects associated with the earlier exercise.
Zagga stated that, in law, a court-ordered fresh election completely wipes out the first one as if it never existed. The May 26 primary had therefore been rendered legally non-existent. This development dismissed arguments linking Pantami's eligibility to the date of the earlier primary, as such arguments were no longer relevant following the fresh election ordered by the court.
The Federal High Court had expressly validated Pantami's membership of the PDP and confirmed that his name was captured in the party's official membership register submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). This judicial confirmation of Pantami's membership provided a strong defence against any future pre-election challenge based on his membership of the party.
A subsequent Supreme Court judgment established that INEC had extended the deadline for political parties to submit their official membership registers to May 30, 2026. Zagga concluded that the legal battles surrounding Pantami's candidature had ultimately strengthened his position. She urged the public to study the actual judgments and their timelines rather than rely on social media interpretations and media headlines.
The lawyer's statement comes as various stakeholders continue to scrutinize Pantami's eligibility to contest the upcoming elections. With the fresh primary validated, attention now shifts to the general election and the role Pantami will play. Key to this will be how his candidature affects the PDP's chances and the reactions of other political parties and their candidates.
Key points
- The fresh PDP primary election validates Pantami's membership in the party.
- The court-ordered fresh election wiped out the previous primary election.
- The legal battles surrounding Pantami's candidature have strengthened his position.
