The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Gombe State, Dr Jamil Isyaku Gwamna, has accepted the debate challenge issued by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
Gwamna’s acceptance was conveyed by his spokesman, Ibrahim Sani Shawai, who said the APC candidate is prepared to engage Pantami and other governorship contenders in an open debate on issues concerning the future of Gombe State.
Shawai said Gwamna is ready to participate in the proposed debate “any day, any time,” and challenged whoever is calling for the debate to set the stage.
The development follows Pantami’s call for governorship candidates in the state to publicly debate their ideas, policies and plans for Gombe ahead of the 2027 election.
Welcoming the challenge, Shawai said the proposed debate should go beyond political rhetoric, accusations and campaign propaganda, insisting that candidates should be judged on their experience, capacity, records and measurable results.
“Leadership is bigger than a debate, endless talk, baseless accusations, lies and propaganda. Politics and governance are not an endless contest of words. Leadership is about people, relationships, capacity, experience, institutions and results,” Shawai said.
He said Gwamna had spent more than two decades building relationships across Gombe State and beyond, while investing in people, creating opportunities and developing political and professional networks across the public and private sectors.
According to the spokesman, the debate should provide an opportunity for all candidates to present their records and explain what they have achieved with opportunities previously available to them.
He identified human capital development, employment, education, healthcare, agriculture, water supply, infrastructure, investment, industrialisation, youth development and women empowerment as issues that should feature prominently in the debate.
Shawai also challenged other candidates to discuss what he described as more than 1,800 employment opportunities created for Gombe indigenes at KEDCO and KAEDCO, as well as over 1,000 employment opportunities at the Gombe State Water Board.
He listed local and foreign scholarships, capital for entrepreneurs and small businesses, and youth and women empowerment interventions among other areas he said should be subjected to public scrutiny.
On governance and development, Shawai said Gwamna’s agenda is anchored on continuity, sustainability, consolidation and expansion of the development programmes of the administration of Governor Inuwa Yahaya.
He noted that Gombe State already has a 10-year development framework, arguing that a change in administration should not automatically result in the abandonment of existing development programmes and projects.
Shawai maintained that government should be viewed as a continuum, stressing that sustainable development requires consistent policies rather than repeated cycles of abandoning and restarting projects.
He challenged other candidates to come to the debate with verifiable records rather than relying solely on campaign promises.
“Let us put the records on the table. Let us debate records, not rhetoric; impact, not propaganda; people, not promises,” he said.
The spokesman reiterated that Gwamna is prepared to discuss his record, vision and plans for the future of Gombe State with Pantami and other contenders.
“Dr Jamil Isyaku Gwamna is ready. Any day. Any time,” Shawai said.
The proposed debate is expected to provide an opportunity for the major governorship contenders to publicly outline their positions on key development issues as political activities ahead of the 2027 Gombe governorship election intensify.
