Abubakar Atiku, Nigeria’s former Vice President, explained on Friday why he removed a tweet criticising the killing of a student at Sokoto’s Shehu Shagari College of Education for blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.
Mr Abubakar, a presidential candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party, revealed this during a meeting with Edo Governor Godwin Obaseki at Government House in Benin.
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Mr Abubakar has previously reacted to the lynching of Deborah Samuel by her classmates over blasphemy claims, according to the Nigerian News Agency.
After receiving reaction in the Muslim North, the message was quickly removed.
However, the removal of the post sparked more social media outrage, particularly in the Christian South.
“Every tweet has to obtain my stated consent,” Mr Abubakar says, “but this one didn’t, so I requested them to take it off.”
“I stood up to Sharia law and was abused and stoned, but how long did that last?” Despite this, I have not changed my mind about it. “I’m not afraid to speak up on important subjects,” he stated.
Education, according to the presidential candidate, is crucial.
“If you recall, when the PDP was in office, we established the Tertiary Education Trust Fund,” he said (TETFUND).
“We also established the Elementary School Education Fund and the Education Tax Fund to enable us (the PDP Federal Government) to offer sufficient funds to both state and local governments to invest in primary and secondary education.”
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“We also passed legislation making education obligatory for all Nigerian children from primary through secondary schools,” he added.
When asked about zoning for the PDP presidential ticket, Mr Abubakar stated that the party has not abandoned the practise.
He stated he would meet down with the party to decide on a running mate for the 2023 presidential race.
