Senator Abdulfatai Buhari representing Oyo North Senatorial District, on Saturday, tackled a ministerial nominee, Bosun Tijani, over a non-patriotic tweet he posted over four years ago.
Speaking during Tijani’s screening. Buhari reminded the ministerial nominee of a tweet he shared in 2019 expressing his displeasure about Nigeria.
“On the 21st of July 2019, Dr Bosun tweeted against Nigeria that he does not appreciate the Nigerian passport and Nigeria as a nation,” the Oyo Senator said after 46-year-old Tijani, an Information Technology expert, read his profile to the lawmakers.
The lawmaker asked the nominee to clarify whether he still believes in Nigeria and the country’s passport.
Responding, the 46-year-old nominee who is from Ogun state said he is very passionate about Nigeria and he is committed to the country’s development.
Tijani said he tweeted as a result of a frustrating experience he had with the Chinese Embassy.
“I tweeted in anger,”he said.
Senator Ishaku Abbo representing Adamawa North Senatorial District immediately rose to Tijani’s defense, saying that the nominee tweeted out of a mixture of frustration and love for Nigeria.
Also, Senator Solomon Adeola from Ogun West Senatorial District defended the nominee from his state, saying his “youthful exuberance” and “shortcoming” should be forgiven.
Adeola, who chided the nominee, said Tijani has what it takes to use his skills to develop Nigeria’s IT industry, adding that “the baby should not be thrown away with the bath water.”
His grilling by the Senators continued when he was reminded by the Senate Minority Leader representing Plateau North Senatorial District, Simon Mwadkwon, of what was described as yet another unpatriotic tweet he posted sometime in 2021.
Rising to his defence, Senate Majority Leader representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Opeyemi Bamidele, described Tijani as an “EndSARS protester” and pointed out that his daughter also protested police brutality and extrajudicial killings in October 2020, and that Tijani was only speaking for his generation, so should not be haunted for the tweet.
The Senate Leader said Tinubu wants to work with young people like Tijani to bring harmonise their ideas for the betterment of the country.
Bamidele asked youths to learn from Tijani’s situation and thereafter urged his colleagues to forgive the nominee.
Tijani subsequently apologised for his non-patriotic tweets and Senate President Godswill Akpabio said his apology was accepted.
See some of Tijani’s tweets below;
