Two years ago, Bosun Tijani, one of President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial nominees, described members of the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly as morons.
When he appeared before the Senate on Saturday, Bosun, who is the CEO and co-founder of CcHub, for screening, Tijani made a U-turn and sought forgiveness.
During the screening, Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkwon, read out a Twitter post previously authored by Tijani.
In the post published in 2021, the nominee described senators as “morons”, while faulting the mode of screening and confirmation of political appointees.
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“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,” the post read.
Mwadkwon asked Tijani to clarify if he was the one who authored the post.
Responding, the 46-year-old apologized to the senators and Nigerians over his old comments on social media.
The nominee from Ogun State, said: “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.
“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 apologize 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, Godswill Akpabio, accepted Tijani’s apology on behalf of the upper chamber and asked the ministerial nominee to bow and leave the podium.
In a tweet after his screening, Tijani apologized again.
“I thank distinguished members of the Senate for understanding the circumstances around his previous comments.
“After an eventful few days, I want to again express my gratitude to His Excellency, @officialABAT GCFR for seeing it fit to nominate me as a Minister of the Federal Republic. I particularly want to thank the distinguished members of the @NGRSenate for their engagement today and especially for their understanding of the circumstances around my previous comments.
“I apologize again to all and I look forward to the opportunity to work with all stakeholders in government as well as the young passionate people of Nigeria towards a prosperous, inclusive and peaceful economy that we all desire and as outlined by the President’s Vision.
“I am grateful to all who have been part of this story, which highlights our collective passion for a greater Nigeria. Thank you all and God bless,” he tweeted
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