Yobe APC Chairman Apologises After Telling Women To Divorce Anti-APC Husbands

Yobe State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mohammed Gadaka, has apologised and withdrawn a controversial statement in which he advised married women to divorce husbands who prevent them from voting for the party in the forthcoming general elections.

Gadaka made the remark on Thursday while receiving hundreds of defectors into the APC. During the gathering, he reportedly told women whose husbands opposed their support for the party to consider ending their marriages, while promising to pay a “new bride price” for any woman who took such a step.

The comment generated strong reactions across the state, with residents and Islamic scholars reportedly criticising the statement as irresponsible and provocative, particularly because of its potential implications for families and marital relationships.

Following the backlash, Gadaka addressed the controversy in a 42-second video shared on the Facebook page of Mamma Mohammed, the Director-General of Press and Media Affairs to Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni.

The APC chairman explained that his statement had been misunderstood, insisting that it was intended as a form of traditional joking banter associated with interactions between his Ngamo community and people from the Kare-Kare-speaking community.

Gadaka stressed that the remark did not reflect his personal values or an intention to encourage married people to end their relationships.

He subsequently apologised for the statement and formally withdrew it, saying he did not intend for his comment to be interpreted as an endorsement of divorce among married couples.

The controversy has nevertheless drawn attention to the increasingly heated political activities ahead of the next general elections and the sensitivity surrounding comments by political leaders on family and religious matters.