Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday deleted a tweet that celebrated Bola Tinubu at 64.

Mr Tinubu turned 69 on Monday and has received widespread accolades from political and business circles. His annual symposium also holds today in Kano.

Mr Osinbajo promptly deleted his erroneous tweet and shared another message to Mr Tinubu, who has long been the political godfather of the vice-president.

Mr Osinbajo was the state attorney-general when Mr Tinubu was Lagos governor between 1999 and 2007. It was unclear why the vice-president could forget the age of a long-time political associate even when a deluge of messages since last week mentioned that Mr Tinubu was turning 69 today.

Mr Osinbajo’s action could also worsen conspiracy theories about Mr Tinubu’s actual age. Critics like Yinka Odumakin have stated repeatedly that Mr Tinubu was lying about his age, saying his physical appearance cannot be of someone below 70 years.

Rumour also circulated over the weekend that Mr Tinubu should not be celebrating 69 when he purportedly had a daughter that has already turned 60. The Lagos politician’s opponents did not say the name of Mr Tinubu’s daughter nor his current location, yet continue to circulate the claim.

Mr Osinbajo has now added to raging confusion about Mr Tinubu’s age, with his tweet now spreading quickly amongst Nigerians on social media.