Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, representing Ebonyi North Senatorial District, has provided his account of the events that occurred during the Senate Ethics Committee hearing.
On Tuesday, he was involved in a verbal altercation with former Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili in Abuja, as the committee began its investigation into sexual harassment allegations involving suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The clash escalated when Senator Nwebonyi made derogatory remarks towards Ezekwesili, calling her “an insult to womanhood” and a “hooligan.”
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In an interview on Channels Television’s “Politics Today,” Senator Nwebonyi defended his actions, stating that the former minister had initiated the confrontation by calling him a “hooligan” and demanding that he, a sitting senator, “shut up.”
He said, “It started when she was asked to be an oath because she said she was a witness. She said, ‘no she can’t be on oath, she can’t oath.’
“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 office. She turned to me and said, ‘Will you shut up your mouth, you are a hooligan.”
According to the Ebonyi lawmaker, he replied Ezekwesili saying: “You are the hooligan. For a mother like you, a grandmother of your age, a former minister of the federal republic to tell a sitting senator to shut up his mouth and added that I am a hooligan.”
Senator Nwebonyi stated that despite the events that transpired, he has no regrets, although he maintains respect for Oby Ezekwesili as a woman.
When questioned about the fairness of his response to the former minister, the lawmaker countered by asking why she would treat him in such a way.
“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,” he added.
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