Ministerial nominee who tackled Tinubu before appointment seeks forgiveness

A ministerial nominee from Ogun State, Bosun Tijani has apologized to the Senate over “unpatriotic” comments he shared on Twitter some years ago.

Senator Abdulfatai Buhari (Oyo North) and Senate Minority leader, Simon Mwadkwon (Plateau North), had tackled the nominee, an Information Technology expert, over the tweets when he appeared before the Senate for screening.

Buhari said, “On the 21st of July 2019, Dr Bosun tweeted against Nigeria that he does not appreciate the Nigerian passport and Nigeria as a nation.”

He, therefore, asked the nominee to clarify whether he still believes in Nigeria and the country’s passport.

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Tijani, who holds a Bachelor degree in Economics and a Diploma in Computer Science from University of Jos, Plateau State, had also been under fire over his past tweets which were critical of President Bola Tinubu.

Replying to a tweet some four years ago, the nominee had said, “It is becoming the norm. Tinubu fed them that rubbish narrative with his “serving power a la carte” wisdom. Go invest your time and money into your business if you want to propagate such a rubbish narrative.”

But responding Senator Buhari’s observation, Tijani said he was committed to the country’s development, adding that he tweeted out of a frustrating experience he had at the Chinese Embassy some years ago.

“I tweeted in anger,” he told the lawmaker.

Senators Adeola Solomon (Ogun West) and Ishaku Abbo (Adamawa North) defended the nominee, saying he tweeted out of love for the country and begged their colleagues to forgive his “shortcoming”.

Also, Senate Leader, Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, said the nominee spoke for his generation but urged young Nigerians to learn from Tijani’s case.

He also appealed to the lawmakers to forgive the nominee.

Tijani thereafter apologised for his non-patriotic tweets, saying he was not trained to disrespect elders.  

Senate President Godswill Akpabio said his apology was accepted.

“We are all fathers and we cannot throw the baby away with the bath water.

“On behalf of the Senate, I want to accept your apology,” Akpabio said.

He, therefore, asked Tijani to take a bow and go.