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From Fred Itua, Abuja
The Senate yesterday screened five additional ministerial nominees, including the man who once called lawmakers “moron” in a Tweet in 2021.
The Senate, which resumed the screening on Saturday, came face-to-face with Dr Bosun Tijjani, who in a Tweet in 2021 referred to them as “morons”.
Tijjani had earlier in July 2019 made this tweet, describing Nigeria as a “bloody expensive tag”, allegedly portraying the country in bad light.
The Senate said that it was appalled by the tweet and demanded an explanation from Tijjani who incidentally holds a British citizenship.
When the floor was finally yielded to Tijjani to defend himself, he managed to wriggle out of trouble after explaining that the tweet in question was taken out of context and does not reflect what he stands for and his love for his country, Nigeria.
He said that 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 many senators raising their hands in the background to wreak even more havoc on a ministerial nominee that now looks shaky.
However, help came from the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, who begged the Senate to allow Tijjani apologise for his misguided youthful exuberance, making Tijjani to immediately tender an unreserved apology.
The Senate also screened the ministerial nominee from Lagos, Lola Ade-John.
Next was another ministerial nominee from Ogun State, Isiak Salako.
A medical doctor by training, Salako called for improved funding in the health sector.
The Senate also grilled the ministerial nominee from Adamawa State, Prof Tahir Mamman, a legal luminary and former director general of the Nigeria Law School.
The Senate also screened the ministerial nominee from Taraba State, Uba Maigari Ahmadu, a former deputy governor of the state.
Maigari is a trained lawyer, but had transited to become a businessman and politician.
