The Yobe State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mohammed Gadaka, has apologised and withdrawn a controversial remark in which he urged married women to leave their husbands if they were prevented from voting for the party in the forthcoming general elections.
Gadaka made the comment on Thursday in Nangere, where he received hundreds of defectors into the APC.
While addressing supporters at the event, the APC chairman reportedly said women whose husbands refused to allow them to vote for the party should divorce them. He also pledged to pay the “new bride price” for any woman who ended her marriage over her support for the APC.
The remark triggered criticism across Yobe State, with residents and Islamic scholars describing it as inappropriate and potentially damaging to family values.
Following the backlash, Gadaka withdrew the statement in a 42-second video shared on the Facebook page of the Director-General of Press and Media Affairs to Governor Mai Mala Buni, Mamma Mohammed.
The APC chairman said his comment was misunderstood and described it as a form of joking banter associated with interactions between his Ngamo people and the Kare-Kare-speaking community.
“My statement was just a usual joking banter and does not in any way represent the ideals I stand for or intended to encourage divorce among married people,” Gadaka said.
He subsequently apologised for the remark and formally withdrew it.
“I offer apologies for my statement, and I hereby withdraw it,” he added.
Gadaka did not provide details on what prompted the original comment, and it was unclear whether he was responding to any specific allegation that husbands in the area were attempting to influence or restrict their wives’ voting choices.
The controversy comes as political parties intensify mobilisation ahead of the forthcoming elections, with defections and campaign activities increasing across several states.
The APC chairman’s retraction followed growing criticism of his statement, with political observers arguing that comments encouraging married couples to separate over political differences could unnecessarily inflame tensions during an already competitive election period
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