‘He will pick Muslim VP’ — NNPC Twitter handle curiously predicts Tinubu’s running mate

The Twitter handle of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) on Wednesday posted a message on the proposed running mate for Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Tinubu polled 1,271 votes to defeat 13 other presidential hopefuls at the APC primary, which was concluded on Wednesday.

Rotimi Amaechi, former minister of transportation and top contender, polled 316 votes, while Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo got 235 votes.

Senate President Ahmad Lawan, the “consensus candidate” of Abdullahi Adamu, APC national chairman, polled 152 votes, while Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, got 47 votes.

On Wednesday, a Twitter user, @Ssaasquatch, had posted on how difficult it may be for Tinubu to select a vice-presidential candidate.

Responding to the Twitter user, the NNPC official handle had posted: “He will run with a Muslim VP.”

The tweet, which seems to have been made in error, already had more than 90 retweets.

The handler might have forgotten to switch handles.

The post has, however, been deleted.

This declaimer was then published: “The general public is hereby informed that #NNPCLimited‘s Twitter handle (@NNPCgroup) was compromised and used to send an inappropriate message on 8th June 2022 at 6:35pm. The breach has been addressed, and the Twitter handle successfully recovered.

“#NNPCLimited wishes to reassure the general public that it remains committed to doing business in the most ethical manner at all times.”

Meanwhile, in a statement through his social media team, Tinubu had earlier denied endorsing a Muslim running mate.

He said a viral text message sent to delegates at the Eagle Square during the just-concluded presidential primary, alleging that he has decided on a Muslim-Muslim, ticket was false.

“We have been informed of a text message going around APC delegates at Eagles Square in Abuja purportedly from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu claiming that with his imminent victory at the APC presidential primary and emergence as the party’s presidential candidate, the APC leader has now decided on a Muslim-Muslim ticket,” the statement reads.

“This is nothing but a lie. It has no basis whatsoever.”