Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, has vowed to report former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, to Igbo traditional leaders for publicly asking him to “shut up.”
Speaking on AIT’s Kakaaki on Monday, the Ebonyi North senator condemned Ezekwesili’s remarks, which came during a heated exchange at a Senate committee hearing on March 25.
The session was centered on a fresh petition from Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who has repeatedly accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment. Ezekwesili, appearing as a witness, was in attendance alongside Akpoti-Uduaghan’s counsel, Abiola Akiode, and petitioner Zubairu Yakubu.
During the proceedings, Nwaebonyi, appearing as a witness for Akpabio, repeatedly interrupted Ezekwesili, prompting her to rebuke him, saying, “Please, will you shut up?”
The insolence remark triggered an outburst from the senator.
Describing her comments as unacceptable, Nwaebonyi said:
“As a person, I can’t talk to my wife like that in public. I can’t talk to my driver like that in public. I can’t talk to any woman like that, I have never done that in my life. I respect women.”
“I am one of the people that has been championing the rights and privileges of women.”
“As a legal practitioner, I won so many cases for women that were denied their rights of inheriting their father’s properties because their father had no male child.”
“I won so many cases pro bono. The facts are there. If you go to Ebonyi, you would see them.”
“I am one of the leaders from the South-East that has a programme for building houses for widows, sponsoring their children in school. I have over 300 of them. All these are to show the respect, and regard, and love I have for women.”*
Expressing his indignation, he added, “But, for a woman to get up in public, and tell me to shut up my mouth and call me a hooligan, a red cap chief in Igboland that has made his mark…”
“I have made my contribution. I stood for election, I had the votes of over 500 people to be in the Senate.”
“And for somebody who has never won a ward councillorship election to come to my office and tell me to shut up my mouth and call me a hooligan… this is unacceptable.”
Nwaebonyi made it known that he intends to escalate the matter to Igbo traditional leadership, saying, “I am going to take her up within the Igbo traditional leadership because it has never happened.”
