Nigeria, Sept. 24 -- Between Malam Ali Isa Pantami and Malam Sani Isah Kano, a fascinating, almost theatrical debate is unfolding, and it was triggered by one man. The man at the centre is Professor Ali Isa Pantami, the PDP governorship flag bearer for Gombe State and former Minister of Digital Economy under President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a video that has refused to die on social media, Pantami is heard painting a stark picture of his home state, saying that abject poverty has sunk so deep in Gombe that many cannot afford a loaf of bread, and he anchors this claim on the National Bureau of Statistics' Multidimensional Poverty Index.

This controversy is still very fresh, raw and restless. It is not yet sitting comfortably on the pages o...