Nigeria, May 3 -- Isa Pantami, the former minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has suspended one of his social media aides indefinitely for labelling political opponents as "hypocrites."

​Mr Pantami, a governorship hopeful in Gombe State, distanced himself from the remarks, stating that he did not authorise the now-deleted statement posted on his verified Facebook page.

"My attention has been drawn to a post on this page by one of the admins, containing a strongly worded message suggesting that anyone who does not support Prof. Pantami is a hypocrite, and that any cleric who does not support him is equally a hypocrite.

"I would like to state clearly that this message was not authorised by me, nor does it represent our ...