Pantami, Politics and the Question of Power, by Tahir Ahmad
In Nigeria’s public life, few figures embody as many identities as Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami—academic, Islamic cleric, technocrat and politician. Soft-spoken yet controversial, scholarly yet resolute in defending his convictions, Pantami rose from preaching platforms in northern Nigeria to become one of the most visible ministers in the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
To admirers, he represents a rare intellectual who entered government to modernise the state. To sceptics, he is a preacher navigating a political arena that seldom accommodates moral absolutism. That tension—between the pulpit and the podium—defines both his appeal and the unease surrounding his political future.
On Wednesday, February 4, 2026, Pantami revalidated his membership of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The act was routine party administration, yet politically symbolic. For much of 2025, speculation swirled that the former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy might defect from the party he helped build. By publicly renewing his membership, he effectively ended those rumours.
But his decision sparked a different conversation: Is he positioning himself for the Gombe State governorship race?
Pantami’s relevance to that debate rests largely on his ministerial record between 2019 and 2023, a period when Nigeria’s digital economy emerged as one of the country’s most resilient sectors. Under the National Broadband Plan (NNBP), broadband penetration expanded significantly, increasing access from 72 million users to 88 million by November 2022. Data costs reportedly dropped from about ₦1,200 per gigabyte to roughly ₦350 by August 2019, improving affordability and inclusion.
Nigeria also launched commercial 5G services during his tenure, placing the country among early adopters in Africa and generating substantial licensing revenue—about $820.8 million—for the federal government. The Nigeria Startup Act provided regulatory clarity and incentives for emerging tech companies, while the ICT sector’s contribution to GDP climbed above 18 per cent at its peak. Notably, during the COVID-19-induced recession of 2020, ICT remained the fastest-growing sector, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.
Pantami’s administration also accelerated the national digital identity programme, integrating telecom registration and financial verification systems. His recommendation led to the establishment of the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB), strengthening regulatory oversight in a rapidly expanding digital space. Government agencies were pushed toward digital operations, and youth-focused training initiatives broadened participation in technology and innovation.
Yet Pantami is not merely a technocrat; he is also Sheikh Pantami—a cleric whose religious teachings command a wide audience. That dual identity lies at the centre of the debate. Commentators, including journalist Jaafar Jaafar, have questioned whether a religious cleric can effectively operate in Nigeria’s transactional political culture.
The argument is philosophical as much as personal. Nigerian politics often demands compromise; religious authority typically demands consistency. Governance rewards negotiation; scholarship rewards principle. Can both worlds coexist in one individual?
Pantami himself has not declared any governorship ambition. But Gombe State approaches a political transition cycle, and his relationship with Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya places him within the conversation. His supporters—often referred to as “Pan-termites”—have intensified online calls for his candidacy, presenting him as a reform-minded administrator capable of replicating federal-level digital reforms at the state level.
The argument for him is straightforward: If he could drive structural transformation within a complex federal bureaucracy, might a smaller administrative ecosystem like Gombe offer even clearer pathways for reform? Digital governance, transparent revenue systems and data-driven planning could potentially boost internally generated revenue and reduce dependency on federal allocations.
Ultimately, the debate is less about eligibility and more about suitability. Can a cleric navigate a political system built on pragmatism rather than doctrine? Or does the system need precisely such an outsider to disrupt entrenched patterns?
For now, Pantami’s APC renewal keeps speculation alive without confirming intention. But perhaps the deeper question is not whether he seeks power. It is whether Nigerians are prepared to entrust reform to someone shaped partly outside traditional politics—a scholar stepping carefully into a terrain where conviction and compromise must learn to coexist.
Tahir Ahmad is co-author of Anti-Drug, Anti-Smuggling Campaigns: A Corpers’ Chronicle. He can be reached via [email protected].