Social media platform, Twitter, has unverified and deactivated the account of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo four years after it was created. The deactivation occurred in the early hours of today.
Nairametrics observed that his over 2000 tweets were also deleted. The deactivated account was followed by 2.13 million individuals, making the Vice President one of the most followed Nigerian personality. President Muhammadu Buhari has 2.19 million followers on Twitter.
Yemi Osinbajo rose to prominence after he emerged as the running mate to President Muhammadu Buhari, who won the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria after defeating the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan. Before the 2015 polls, Osinbajo served as the Attorney General and commisioner of justice under the administration of Bola Tinubu as the Governor of Lagos State.
The grey area: The only tweet left on the Twitter account after it was deactivated was the tweet promoting N-Power, an empowerment scheme of the Buhari-led administration and headed by Osinbajo. The reason behind the deletion of the other relevant tweets remains unclear and has raised reactions from many twitter users.
At the N-Power Creative Industry Week, Utricle Studios showed the beneficiaries an ongoing project titled "Gammy and the Living Things. This project features Nigerian award winning rapper, M.I, Pete Edochie, Joke Silva, Bimbo Akintola, Bovi and Segun Arinze. pic.twitter.com/eh41jDIsZP
— N-Power (@npower_ng) August 3, 2019
Reason for deactivation: The action taken by Twitter was allegedly prompted by a demand from the office of the Vice President. Senior Special Assistant for Media & Publicity to the vice president, Laolu Akande explained in a tweet that some individual(s) had tried to hack into the account yesterday, August 10, 2019.
He tweeted that the office proceeded to inform Twitter, and that must have prompted the deactivation. No damage was, however, done to the Vice President’s personality as the pending harm was nipped in the bud.
“Yesterday, there were failed external attempts to gain unauthorized access to the Vice President’s Twitter Account. Since, we have been in contact with Twitter, securing the account, and forestalling a reoccurrence. The VP will continue to actively communicate with our citizens,” Laolu Akande tweeted through his personal handle: @akandeoj.
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Yesterday, there were failed external attempts to gain unauthorized access to the Vice President’s Twitter Account. Since, we have been in contact with Twitter, securing the account, and forestalling a reoccurrence. The VP will continue to actively communicate with our citizens.
— Laolu Akande (@akandeoj) August 10, 2019
Reason not genuine? Several reactions trailed Akande’s tweet, with some stating that the reason given in defence of the deactivation is far from the truth, while other Twitter users blamed the hack attempt on the opposition parties.
Responding to Akande’s tweet, Dunu ‘@dunua‘ Anselem tweeted, “Pathetic lie. Tell this to the marines. Twitter punished him for election rigging and vote-buying. But you know what, you ain’t getting Bayelsa”
Pathetic lie. Tell this to the marines. Twitter punished him for election rigging and vote buying.
But you what, you ain't getting Bayelsa 🕺— Dunu Anselem #AllEyesOnJudiciary (@dunua) August 10, 2019
Another Twitter user, Oladele ‘@perogunner’ Motayo tweeted, “Prof. Should be mindful ooo, there is nothing the server party can’t do. If they can bring one nonentity IT guy from Kenya to defend INEC server, they can pay anybody to hack VP’s account.”
https://twitter.com/perogunner/status/1160133552173965312
Below are the other reactions.
https://twitter.com/AriyoAristotle/status/1160138141736546305
We said it! They should crawl back to their holes! Truth will always prevail!
— Olufunke Lawson (@bravefacefunkie) August 10, 2019
Calm down, they're starting few weeks to the governorship election.
— 'MIDE (@IbukunAyomide8) August 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/ngoamazing2009/status/1160138388684648448
https://twitter.com/rapture0077/status/1160145161449562112
So you believe this….lol
— Legendary Hustler (@thobbyvincent) August 10, 2019
https://twitter.com/Doctorfrank2/status/1160135800136306693
https://twitter.com/onyiforlife/status/1160157045997416448
Am not surprise tho,when you are great you are great,no amount of plan can prevail over @ProfOsinbajo,thank you for this wonderful info,although personally I know they already know he is next in line for 2023 presidency,so he is their target but they have failed.
— Ògúndèlé Tèjúmòlá PhD (@OgundeleTeju) August 10, 2019
