Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi announced plans to tell him to “shut up” during a fierce exchange at a Senate committee hearing, reporting former Education Secretary Oby Ezekwesili to Igbo traditional leaders.
Senate Deputy Director Nwaebonyi, representing Ebonyi North, made a statement while speaking on Monday, March 31, at AIT’s breakfast program “Kakaaki”.
The confrontation between the two occurred on March 25 at a hearing on the Senate Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition Committee. The hearing was based on a brand new petition by Senator Natasha Akpoti-uduaghan, Kogi Central, who repeatedly accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment.
Ezekwesili attended the hearing with Abiola Akiode, legal counsel for Akpoti-Uduaghan and petitioner Zubairu Yakubu. Nwaebonyi, a witness to Akpabio, interrupted Ezekwesili repeatedly during her speech, prompting her to say, “Please, shut up?” and urged him to “form yourself and stop making noise.”
The comment led to an immediate reaction from Nwaebonyi, who described it as “unacceptable”.
He said: “As a person, I can’t talk to my wife in public. I can’t talk to my driver in public. I can’t talk to any woman like this, I’ve never done it in my life. I respect women.”
“I am one of those who have always advocated women’s rights and privileges. As a legal practitioner, I have won many cases for women who have been denied the right to inherit their father’s property because the father has no boys.
“I won a lot of cases and the fact is there. If you go to Ebony, you’ll see them. I’m one of the leaders in the Southeast, which has a plan to build a house for widows and sponsors their children in schools with over 300. I have over 300 people.
He further expressed his dissatisfaction and pointed out that such remarks were an insult to his status as a senator and traditional leader of the Igbo nation.
“But to get a woman up in public and tell me to shut up, call me a rogue, the head of Red Hat in Igboland, his mark…
“I contributed. I represented the election and I had more than 500 people in the Senate.
“For someone who has never won the ward MP election to come to my office and tell me to shut up and call me a gangster…it’s unacceptable.
After that, the conflict sparked a reaction, which some viewed as respect and cultural etiquette, while others viewed it as part of a broader debate on gender and power dynamics in Nigerian politics.
