Femi Ashekun/
The Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has disowned a partisan comment on its Twitter handle which knowingly predicted the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Bola Tinubu, will pick a Muslim running mate for the 2023 election.
Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, yesterday emerged the winner of the presidential primary of the APC. He defeated 13 other aspirants to win the primary, scoring 1,271 votes. His closest contender, ex-minister of transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, scored 316 votes while Vice President Yemi Osinbajo came third with 235 votes.
A Twitter user, @Ssaasquatch, had thereafter shared his thoughts on how difficult it may be for Tinubu, a southern Nigeria Muslim, to select a vice-presidential candidate from the predominantly Muslim north.
“The future doesn’t look all that bright for Tinubu. He can’t run with a Muslim VP and the few Christian choices from the north don’t have the required political clout. Interesting to see how this plays out,” the tweet read.
In an affirmative response to the tweet, the NNPC on its verified Twitter handle said, “He will run with a Muslim VP”.
The tweet has since been taken down by the company.
In a statement today, the state-owned company said its Twitter handle was compromised and used to send an inappropriate message.
“The general public is hereby informed that NNPC Limited’s Twitter handle @NNPCgroup was compromised and used to send an inappropriate message on 8th June 2022 at 6:35 pm. The breach has been addressed, and the Twitter handle successfully recovered.
“NNPC Limited wishes to reassure the general public that it remains committed to doing business most ethically at all times,” it said,” the company said in a statement, which is also shared on its Twitter handle.
