The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has stated that he deleted his tweet condemning the murder of Deborah Samuel, a student who was lynched for alleged blasphemy, because the tweet was shared without his approval.

Deborah, a Christian 200-level student of Shehu Shagari College of Education Sokoto, was killed by fellow students in May for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.

During the Channels Television people’s town hall meeting on Sunday, Atiku was asked why he deleted the tweet where he condemned the act.

In response, Atiku 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.”

Following Deborah’s murder, a tweet via Atiku’s verified page had read, “There cannot be a justification for 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.”

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 former Vice President distanced himself from the message. He also stated that any message on social media without the initials “A. A.” was not his.

“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.

However, the former vice president came under fire following his actions.