***Akpabio accepts Appology on behalf of the Senate
The senate on Saturday continued the screening of the remaining 7 ministerial nominees when they encountered Dr. Bosun Tijjani, who in a Tweet in 2021, referred to them as “morons”.
Earlier in July 2019 Tijjani had tweeted describing Nigeria as a “bloody expensive tag- allegedly portraying the country in bad light.
The Senators who were appalled by the Tweet demanded explanation from Tijjani who incidentally is also a British nationality.
At that point, the nominee from Ogun State who was downcast was at the mercy of the lawmakers.
When the floor was finally yielded for Tijjani to defend himself, he explained that the Tweet in question was taken out of context adding that it did not reflect what he stands for and his love for his country Nigeria.
He said it was a tweet in the heat of anger over how he was shabbily treated as a Nigerian citizen at the Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom
But Tijjani’s respite was momentary as the Senate Minority Leader, had dug up the Tweet where he called the lawmakers “morons”. By this time, most of the sympathy for Tijjani had evaporated – with more senators raising their hands in the background to ask more questions
However, the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele’s intervention, asking the Senate to allow Tijjani apologize for his misguided youthful exuberance saved the day
With a Sober mood Tijjani tendered an unreserved apology.
“As a Yoruba boy that grew up in Lagos and Abeokuta, so I do understand that we are not meant to disrespect our elders. That was not the training we were given.
My father won’t be proud of me for all these allegations but what he will be proud of as well is the passion that led me those mistakes.
“I apologise to everyone in this hall, including everyone anywhere in Nigeria that may have been offended by everything I’ve said.
“I ask that you please, in the process of accepting my apologies that you look at the undertone of everything I’ve said. I didn’t say it to spite, I said it out of frustration. So, please accept my sincere apologies.
“Distinguished Senators, please accept my apologies for going too far in my explanation, I’m absolutely sorry for everything I’ve said”.
The Senate President Godswill Akpabio while absolving the nominee said,
“Senators, we are all fathers, our children do err and we can not throw away the baby with the bath water, we recognise his intellect, contributions, we thank the President for being a forgiving father despite all these tweets.
“On behalf of the Senate, I want to accept your apology. Keep up the good work of creating opportunities for young people to grow so that they will not be having the kind of anger that made you to make all those tweets”.