Senator Shettima Apologises For Ridiculing Osinbajo, Lawan

By Adesina Soyooye

A former Governor of Borno State, Senator Kashim Shettima, has tendered an unreserved apology to both the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and the Senate President, Dr Ahmad Lawan, for ridiculing and denigrating them on national  television.

In an interview with Channels Television, Shettima shocked not a few people when he descended to the gutter, and  dismissed both high profile men in unflattering terms. Both Osinbajo and Lawan are Presidential aspirants.

A staunch supporter of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, another Presidential aspirant, Shettima in a bid to sell the candidacy of Tinubu crossed the borderline.

Talking on the chances of VP Osinbajo, Shettima described him as “a nice man”, and added that “nice men sell ice cream.” Meaning that the Vice President, a Professor of Law, and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, literally, is fit only to sell ice cream for being a nice guy.

On Senate President Lawan, a PhD holder, Shettima said when you mention his name in the East, for example, what people will first think of is a “tomato seller.”

Shettima’s denigration of both men hit the raw nerves of many people, especially, their supporters.

In a statement aimed at damage control, Shettima said: “The interpretation of my remarks on Professor Osinbajo and Senator Lawan are being done literally and overblown. My words weren’t woven to portray them as unworthy aspirants, but merely to qualify them as non-threatening contenders. 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.

“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 l.”

The full text of Shettima’s apology reads:

My Channels TV Interview Taken Out of Context

1. “When I appeared on Channels TV last Thursday amidst the tension rippling through our political arena, it was to underline the promise Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s presidential bid held for those yet to establish the certainty of the hurdle ahead of the APC. I never set out to denigrate the personality of any aspirant, and definitely not that of my dear friends and allies. None of them is an opponent, so their aspiration isn’t a threat to us. They appear so in the sprint to become the party’s presidential flag-bearer in the 2023 elections, but they are our allies in the marathon.

4. “My assessments of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan, were well-intentioned. 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.
5. “The interpretations of my remarks on Professor Osinbajo and Senator Lawan are, thus, being done literally and overblown. My words weren’t woven to portray them as unworthy aspirants, but merely to qualify them as non-threatening contenders. 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.
6. “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.
7. “As we approach the finishing line of this tense political race, I’m not unaware of who the actual opponents are. A divided house, even if in the assumptions and imaginations of supporters with a distant grasp of our relationships with other aspirants, is the last impression we wish to create among Nigerians.
8. “I want this to be taken as an appeal to our supporters across all political camps to build bridges and mend fences as the actual journey is just about to begin. Victory, for the discerning, has always been the first lap of the race. Thank you for your understanding.”

This is the second time, within 48 hours, that the Tinubu camp will embark on damage control over mis-speaking.

First, it was Tinubu who “yabbed” President Muhammadu Buhari, Osinbajo and Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun in Abeokuta.

He was forced to apologise in two separate statements, within 24 hours, after he faced a backlash.

The National Chairman of the APC, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, said Tinubu will be sanctioned for “insulting” the President. And now, Shettima.