Former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, has expressed satisfaction with her interaction with Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi at a Senate Committee hearing on Tuesday, stating that the incident highlighted the challenges women encounter in a patriarchal society.
Ezekwesili shared this perspective during an appearance on Channels Television’s “Sunrise Daily” program on Wednesday, where she provided her account of the events that transpired during the committee’s session on the sexual harassment allegations involving suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
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The former minister said, “In this society, there is a historic attitude to voice; not just the voice of women but those who say that they do not agree with a situation or who like me are persistent in demanding public accountability from those that lead an institution that belongs to the society.
“It is a historic more or less function. And so, that attitude pervades the way our lawmakers are behaving. I was actually very pleased with what happened yesterday because now it is in the public domain what women endure in many instances, and the rest of society may know little about it but has not focused on it.”
Read Also: Why I Clashed With Ezekwesili – Senator Nwebonyi
On Tuesday, tensions escalated at the Senate Committee hearing in Abuja, where Oby Ezekwesili and Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, counsel for Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, represented the Kogi lawmaker.
A verbal confrontation erupted between Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi and Ezekwesili, resulting in the use of offensive language and gender-based insults.
During her appearance on Channels Television’s “Sunrise Daily” on Wednesday, Ezekwesili recounted that the committee did not permit her to speak.
She accused Senator Ned Nwoko Imasuen, the committee’s chair, of bias and argued that he should recuse himself from presiding over the matter to ensure impartiality.
Ezekwesili emphasized her demand for public accountability during the hearing and asserted that society should not allow any individual or group, regardless of their power, to silence voices calling for accountability.
She accused the Senate of diverting attention from the core issue of sexual harassment, as alleged by Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate President Godswill Akpabio. Ezekwesili insisted that the suspended Kogi lawmaker must receive justice.
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