TheCable

Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, says he is not afraid to take a stand on critical issues.

Atiku was reacting to social media backlash after he deleted a tweet concerning the killing of Deborah Emmanuel, a female student of the Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto.

Deborah was killed by a mob over alleged blasphemy.

In the deleted post, Atiku had condemned the killing, saying all those behind the victim’s death must be brought to justice.

Speaking on why the post was taken down, Atiku said he did not authorise it.

The PDP presidential hopeful spoke when he paid a consultative visit to Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo, at the government house, Benin.

“Every tweet has to get my approval. Unfortunately, this tweet, because I was travelling all over Nigeria, did not have my approval. So, I said it should be taken out. That every tweet must have my express approval,” Atiku said.

“I am not a person that is afraid to take a stand on issues. You know the stand I took on sharia. I was pelted and abused in the north but then, how long did the sharia last?

“I told them they were having political sharia. I was vilified. They threw stones at me, and that didn’t make me change my position as far as sharia is concerned. But where is the sharia today?

“So, the only thing that went wrong with that tweet was that it wasn’t authorised by me.”