The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar has explained he deleted the tweet condemning the murder of Deborah Samuel, a student who was lynched for alleged blasphemy.
He said the tweet was deleted because it was shared without his approval.
The Nation had reported that Deborah, a Christian 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto, was gruesomely killed by fellow students for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.
Atiku while answering questions during the Channels Television people’s town hall meeting on Sunday, was asked why he deleted the tweet where he condemned the act.
In response, he said: “I asked the tweet to be deleted because I normally approve every tweet and since I did not approve the tweet, I asked them to delete it. If you read my subsequent statement on that murder, I condemned it.”
A tweet posted on Atiku’s verified Twitter page after the murder of Deborah, reads: “There cannot be a justification for the such gruesome murder. Deborah Yakubu was murdered and all those behind her death must be brought to justice. My condolences to her family and friends.”
However, a few hours after the post, Atiku deleted the tweet and took to Facebook to justify his actions.
In a message on his verified Hausa page, the Presidential candidate distanced himself from the message also stating that any message on social media without the initials “A. A.” was not from him.
“This evening I received information that a post was made that doesn’t agree with my orders. I use this to announce that any post without A. A. is not from me. May God protect us,” he wrote in Hausa language.
