Divorce Your Husbands If They Stop You From Voting APC, I will Pay Your Bride Price — Yobe Party Chairman
The Yobe State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Mohammed Gadaka, has withdrawn a controversial remark in which he urged married women to divorce their husbands if they prevented them from voting for the party in the forthcoming general elections.
Gadaka made the remark on Thursday while speaking in Nangere town, where he received hundreds of defectors into the APC.
He had also pledged to pay the “new bride price” for any woman who left her marriage because of her allegiance to the party.
The comment sparked criticism across the state, with some residents and Islamic scholars describing it as reckless and provocative, while expressing concern that it could undermine family values.
Following the backlash, Gadaka withdrew the statement in a 42 second video posted on the Facebook page of the Director General, Press and Media Affairs to Governor Mai Mala Buni, Mamma Mohammed.
The APC chairman explained that his comment had been misconstrued, describing it as a “joking banter” based on an age long practice of teasing 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.
“I offer apologies for my statement, and I hereby withdraw it,” he added.
It was not immediately clear whether Gadaka’s initial comment was made in response to any reported threat by husbands to influence their wives’ voting choices.
Political observers in Yobe State said the retraction followed mounting criticism of the statement, which they considered inappropriate, particularly as political activities intensify ahead of the elections.
