The song, which accuses Mr Pantami of drug use, praises Gombe State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Jamilu Gwamna. Mr Pantami is the governorship candidate of the opposition Wike-backed People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
A new political song released on Thursday by popular Hausa singer Dauda Kahutu—better known as Rarara —targeting former Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has sparked severe backlash against the singer over its lyrics.
Mr Pantami is the governorship candidate of the Wike-backed People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The track has drawn widespread criticism across social media, with many commentators arguing that the singer misfired.
Rather than damaging Mr Pantami’s reputation to benefit the APC candidate as intended, critics say the song has instead generated public sympathy for the former minister.
Former Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Solomon Dalung, expressed worry over the declining standard of political discourse in northern Nigeria, sharply criticising the use of crude personal attacks in the song.
Commenting on the backlash against the political singer, Mr Dalung lamented that political music, once a tool for education, inspiration, and civic mobilisation in the North, has degenerated into character assassination and public ridicule.
Mr Dalung noted that while political criticism is a crucial aspect of public accountability, public figures should be held to account based on facts rather than personal attacks.
“There was a time when political songs in the North inspired, educated, and mobilised,” Mr Dalung said. “Even the harshest praise singers understood there were lines that decent people simply did not cross. Today, it seems those lines have disappeared.”
He expressed concern that traditional northern Nigerian virtues are being eroded in the pursuit of political point-scoring.
“The North prides itself on adabi (good manners), kunya (modesty), and respect for human dignity,” the former minister stated.
“Those values should not evaporate because someone has taken a political position we disagree with. If Sheikh Pantami is wrong, challenge him with facts. If his politics are inconsistent, expose the inconsistencies. If his public statements deserve scrutiny, scrutinise them.”
The former minister condemned the normalisation of unverified allegations and insult-driven rhetoric on public platforms, warning that double standards threaten the moral fabric of northern political culture.
According to Mr Dalung, the most troubling aspect of the song is the applause the song has received from partisans who would ordinarily condemn similar attacks if directed at leaders they support.
“Principles are only meaningful when they apply equally to friends and opponents,” he cautioned.
“We cannot claim to be defending Northern values while celebrating conduct that erodes the very values our elders taught us.”
Warning of the long-term consequences on northern politics, Mr Dalung urged political actors and commentators to elevate the quality of public discourse.
“Politics will come and go. Governments will rise and fall,” he noted. “But once we normalise indecency as a campaign strategy, rebuilding a culture of respectful disagreement becomes far more difficult. Our disagreements should sharpen our intellect, not coarse our character. The North deserves a higher standard of politics than this.”
Abdulaziz Jauro, from Adamawa state, posted on Facebook that using veiled metaphors to disguise character assassination does not make it art.
Rather than demonstrating creative skill, the piece is presented as a malicious, hollow attack designed purely to ruin a reputation under the guise of symbolism.
Mr Abdulaziz said Rarara leveraged a large public platform to monetise insults, damage societal norms, and degrade civil public discourse.
“Rarara’s latest composition aimed at Professor Pantami exemplifies a troubling descent into artistic insolvency and ethical dereliction. Cloaking insinuations in flimsy allegorical devices does not elevate defamatory rhetoric into sophisticated expression; it merely obscures intellectual vacuity beneath a veneer of performative symbolism. What masquerades as creativity is, in reality, a calculated exercise in reputational vandalism.
“It is profoundly disconcerting that an individual with considerable public reach has chosen to commodify invective, transforming his platform into an instrument of calculated calumny rather than cultural enrichment. Such rhetorical nihilism contributes nothing to public enlightenment; instead, it normalises the corrosion of civic discourse and rewards sensationalism over substance.
“This is not artistic courage. It is an exhibition of moral bankruptcy, discursive delinquency and an astonishing abdication of the ethical obligations that accompany influence. When talent is subordinated to character assassination, the result is neither music nor commentary; it is simply the degradation of both art and public conversation”, Mr Jauro said.
Another commentator, Nuhu Dantani, cautioned Gombe APC governorship candidate, Mr Gwamna, over what he described as the erosion of support for APC candidates following the release of the controversial new song.
“I am a supporter of Dr Jamilu Isyaku Gwamna, and I believe he is a good man. However, if he fails in the 2027 Gombe governorship contest, Rarara should be held accountable,” Mr Dantani, a lawyer and rights activist, said.
He warned that the campaign track produced by Mr Rarara inadvertently boosted the profile of former Mr Pantami instead.
“In his song, he only succeeded in raising Prof Pantami’s popularity and enhancing his dignity and respect. On election day, the impact of this mistake will become clear.”
