Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has explained her heated exchange with Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, the senator representing Ebonyi North, during a Senate ethics committee hearing.
The clash occurred on Tuesday while the panel was reviewing a fresh petition submitted by Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the suspended senator from Kogi Central.
Tensions flared when Ezekwesili told Nwaebonyi, who serves as the Senate’s deputy chief whip, to “shut up” during the proceedings.
Speaking on Arise TV, Ezekwesili said the committee informed them that the case was sub judice due to two related court cases.
“The petitioner had insisted that he would not proceed with his main petition until he received assurances regarding the two objections he had raised,” she explained.
“However, the panel interpreted this stance as a sign that we were not ready to engage in the matter.
“Then, suddenly, they also argued that the case was sub judice because there were two related cases in court.
“They mentioned the case filed by the wife of the Senate President and suggested that, based on that, proceedings should not continue.
“At that point, Dr. Abiola questioned the very basis for convening the jury. While all of this was unfolding, a certain senator—whom I will not acknowledge by name—spoke up (referring to Nwaebonyi).
“He declared that since we were unwilling to provide any testimony, he was present as a representative of the Senate President, who was the respondent, and that he was prepared to speak because, in his view, we could not continue in this manner.
“In response, I said to him, ‘Can you please shut up?’ because we had just been informed that we were not allowed to speak, yet he was doing so freely without any form of an equivalent treatment.
“The justification for silencing us was that we were unwilling to proceed without first addressing our objections.
“When I told him to be quiet, that remark provoked the senator, though he was already agitated.
“He was already provoked, his anger stemmed from the belief that we were not taking the matter seriously.”
Ezekwesili further criticized Nwaebonyi’s reaction, calling it an example of the “indecorous behaviour” displayed by some public officials.
Nwaebonyi fired back, accusing Ezekwesili of first calling him a “hooligan” before ordering him to “shut up.”
However, he maintained that he has no regrets over the incident and still respects her as a woman despite their heated exchange.
