The Yobe State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Mohammed Gadaka, has withdrawn a controversial remark urging married women to leave their husbands if they are prevented from voting for the party.

Gadaka made the comment on Thursday in Nangere while receiving hundreds of defectors into the APC.

Addressing the gathering, the APC chairman reportedly said: “If your husband won’t allow you to vote APC, leave the marriage. I will pay your bride price and marry you.”

He also pledged to pay the bride price of any woman who left her marriage over her allegiance to the party.

The remark sparked criticism, with residents and Islamic scholars describing it as reckless and provocative and warning that such comments could undermine family values.

Amid the backlash, Gadaka withdrew the statement in a 42-second video shared on the Facebook page of Governor Mai Mala Buni’s Director-General of Press and Media Affairs, Mamma Mohammed.

The APC chairman said his comment had been misconstrued and described it as a joke rooted in the longstanding teasing tradition between his Ngamo people and the Kare-Kare-speaking people.

“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 (Arise News)