Trouble came the way of one of the ministerial nominees from Ogun state, Bosun Tijani, during screening session in Senate on Saturday, when his past offensive and derogatory remarks about Nigeria and the Senate , were played up.
Dr. Tijani who is an ICT expert, had earlier made very good presentation on his personality and career to the Senate before Senator Abdulfatai Buhari (APC Oyo North), took him up on what he tweeted about Nigeria in 2019.
Senator Buhari in drawing the attention of the Senate to Tijani’s tweet in 2019, said he was not sure whether the nominee is still a Nigerian or not.
He quoted the nominee to have tweeted, “Nigeria is a bloody expensive tag to have against your name. Leave patriotism for a minute- that tag is a bloody waste of energy. A second foreign passport isn’t sufficient to clean that “sin.”
Worried by the revelation, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, asked the nominee to clarify whether he is still a Nigerian or not.
In his explanation, he stated that the said tweet was done out of frustration and listed series of efforts he had made in adding value to Nigeria, particularly in the ICT sector.
On the strength of his defensive submission, Senator Elisha Abbo (APC Adamawa North), asked the Senate to give him the privilege of taking a bow and leave but another blunder made by the nominee in the past, was hurriedly played up by the Senate Minority Leader, Simon Mwadkwon (PDP Plateau North).
Senator Mwadkwon accused the nominee of calling Senators in the 9th Senate, morons in a tweet in 2021.
The tweet according to the Senator reads, “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.”
Though the revelation enveloped the entire Senate with anger but9( quick intervention by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele (APC Ekiti Central) who pleaded with the Senate to consider the offensive tweets , as past of the nominees.
He said the nominee was among the endsars protesters who President Tinubu wants to give opportunity to contribute his quota to the development of Nigeria.
Further damage control for the nominee was also done by the President of the Senate , who pleaded with Senators to forgive his youthful exuberant – driven comments on Nigeria and the Senate in the past.
He consequently asked the nominee to apologise for his past wrongs , which he did by saying ” I’ very sorry for my offensive comments and remarks in the past .
“Please forgive me as i now know better and very passionate to serve my fatherland,” he said.