Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, representing Ebonyi North, has explained why he exchanged insults with former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, during a Senate Committee hearing on Tuesday.
The altercation occurred when Ezekwesili intervened after the petitioner, Zubairu Yakubu, was asked to mute his microphone while the Committee Chairman was speaking.
Why on a Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today, the lawmaker said Ezekwesili first called him a hooligan and ordered him to shut up his mouth.
When asked whether he regretted his actions, he retorted; “How can I regret the scenario? I gave it to her. Is it fair for her to address me that way? As a former minister of the federal republic and a grandmother, ask her first.”
Narrating what transpired, Nwoebonyi explained that the confrontation began when Ezekwesili refused to take an oath despite claiming to be a witness.
“It started when she was asked to be on oath because she said she was a witness. She said, ‘no, she can’t be on oath, she can’t oath,” he said.
“As a person, I said I am willing to be sworn on oath so that I can give my own evidence. I was addressing the presiding officer.”
She turned to me and said, “Will you shut up your mouth, you are a hooligan.”
Ezekwesili has not reacted to Senator Nwaebonyi’s claims.
Ezekwesili and others appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions hearing on Tuesday, a session convened to address a fresh petition submitted by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on an alleged sexual harassment by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Ezekwesili attended the hearing alongside Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, counsel to Akpoti-Uduaghan, and Zubairu Yakubu, the chief petitioner from Kogi Central.
The confrontation began when Yakubu urged Committee Chairman Neda Imasuen to recuse himself from the case, arguing that his handling of the alleged sexual harassment claims against Senate President Godswill Akpabio had been “controversial.”
“How can the chairman serve as a judge in a case where he has already publicly taken a position? What is the need for us to present our case when a verdict has already been given before hearing us?” Yakubu had asked.
He further alleged that some committee members had old ties with Akpabio, which, he claimed, compromised their neutrality.
His remarks angered some lawmakers, who accused him of attempting to undermine the committee’s credibility.
Ezekwesili’s appearance also faced objection from senators who saw her as trying to impose herself on the proceedings.
