Shettima Apologises To Osinbajo, Lawan Over ‘Ice Cream, Tomato Sellers’ Comments
Category: Nigeria News
Mr Shettima had on Friday, during an interview on Channels TV, said the vice president is a ‘nice man’ and nice people ought to be selling ice cream and popcorn.
He also questioned Mr Lawan’s administrative capacity and popularity.
In a statement on Sunday, Mr Shettima tendered an unreserved apology to the duo, noting that his comments were 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.
“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 favored and advantaged to guarantee APC’s victory in the forthcoming presidential election.
“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.”
Both Messrs Osinbajo and Lawan are running against the former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, and several others.
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