Bosun Tijani, a ministerial nominee from Ogun state, has apologised to senators for calling them “morons” in a 2021 Twitter post.
On Saturday, Tijani, CEO and co-founder of CcHub, appeared before the senate to for screening as a minister.
During the screening, Simon Nwadkon, the senate minority leader, read out a Twitter post credited to Tijani, in which the nominee described senators as “morons”.
In the Twitter post published in 2021, Tijani faulted the mode of screening and confirmation of political appointees by the senate.
“Who conducted a security check on him when he was appointed? What sort of checks are done by @NGRSenate when they confirm appointees? And the media .. question for another day. Until we ask the right questions, these morons will continue to take us for granted,” he wrote on Twitter in 2021.
Nwadkon asked Tijani whether he was the one who authored the Twitter post criticising senators.
After Nwadkon’s questions, some senators stood up to make arguments in support of the credentials of the nominee.
However, at the end of the submissions, Godswill Akpabio, the senate president, asked Tijani to apologise to the senator over his Twitter comments.
Responding, Tijani apologised to the senators and Nigerians over his old comments on social media.
He said comments were not to “spite” anyone but were made out of frustration and love for the country.
“Distinguished senators, I was raised properly as a Yoruba boy both in Agege and Abeokuta. I do understand that we are not meant to disrespect our elders and that is not the training we were given. My father won’t be proud of me for all these allegations,” he said.
“What he would be proud of is the passion that led me to those mistakes and that gave me the opportunity to contribute to the development of this country.
“So I want to profusely apologise to everyone in this hall, including anyone, anywhere in Nigeria that may have been offended by everything I said.
“I begged that in the process of accepting my apology, you look at the undertone of everything I have said. I did not say it to spite. I said it out of frustration and love. Please accept my sincere apologies.”
The senate president said he will accept Tijani’s apology on behalf of the upper chamber and asked the ministerial nominee to bow and leave the podium.
