Former Borno State Governor, Sen. Kassim Shettima has apologised to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Senate President Ahmed Lawan for a remark he made about them in a recent interview.
According to Shettima, his remarks were interpreted literally and overblown as they were never meant to insult Osinbajo or Lawan as perceived in many quarters.
The former governor tendered the apology in a series of tweets on his official handle on Sunday .
He also said his remarks were never meant to ridicule their persons or portray them as unworthy aspirants.
“I never set out to subject them to ridicule but, rather, to stir up interest in the contrasting virtues of the cast of aspirants putting up a fight against my preferred aspirant, one most favoured and advantaged to guarantee APC’s victory in the forthcoming presidential election,” he said.
“The interpretations of my remarks on @ProfOsinbajo and @SPNigeria, Senator Lawan are, thus, being done literally and overblown.
“I, however, take full responsibility for my utterances and wish to appeal to our teeming supporters to neither take my words out of their metaphoric contexts nor interpret them as a measure and declaration of hostility towards my dear friends and allies.
“My words weren’t woven to portray them as unworthy aspirants, but merely to qualify them as non-threatening contenders.
“I hereby tender my unreserved apologies to the Vice President and the President of the Senate for the unintended pains my jibes might have caused them and their families and supporters.”
In an interview on Channels TV, Shettima has said “Osinbajo is a good man; he’s a nice man. But nice men do not make good leaders, because nice men tend to be nasty
“Nice men should be selling popcorn, and ice cream.”
On Lawan, he said: “Go to Ohafia or Arochukwu and ask for Ahmed Lawan, the first thing that will come to their mind is that of a tomato dealer who is bringing tomatoes from Maiduguri. Go to any part of the south. Does the brand name sell?”
