Ebonyi North Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi has said he has no regrets over his heated verbal exchange with former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, during the hearing on a petition accusing the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of sexual harassment.
The senator said this during an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday night.
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The altercation
Earlier on Tuesday, the former minister appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics Privileges and Public Petitions, which conducted a hearing on the petition brought by Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, accusing Mr Akpabio of sexual harassment.
She came in the company of Zubairu Yakubu, who signed the petition on behalf of Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan and the senator’s legal counsel, Abiola Akiyode.
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Mrs Ezekwesili and the Ebonyi North Senator engaged in a heated verbal exchange during the hearing.
The altercation began after Mr Nwebonyi urged the committee to allow him to make his own submission if Mrs Ezekwesili-led’s team was not ready to proceed.
Mrs Ezekwesili then jumped in, telling the senator, “can you shut up?’
In response, an enraged Mr Nwebonyi attacked the former minister. He said she would “never be a senator” and called her “an insult to womanhood.”
“Why should you talk to a senator like that? You can never be a senator. You are an insult to womanhood,” the senator, visibly angry, said.
Mrs Ezekwesili has, however, admitted that he told the senator to “shut up” because he used derogatory words on her and dismissed her and others present as unserious.
Nwebonyi defends actions
Mr Nwebonyi, who represented the senate president at the hearing, defended his reaction, stating that he was merely responding to what he perceived as disrespect.
“How can I regret the scenario? I gave it to her. Is it right for her to address me that way? As a former minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a grandmother, ask her first.
“I only replied to her. How can I be emotional? She was the one being emotional. It is unfortunate that a mother, a grandmother, the person of her standard can be so moved by her emotion to call a sitting senator a hooligan and I should shut up when I was asking for clarification from a presiding officer. I was not addressing her. I was talking to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, so I don’t have business with her,” he said.
When asked if he would accept Mrs Ezekwesili’s apology for describing his behaviour as unruly, Mr Nwebonyi said, “Of course, I will. This is a lent period. You cannot insult me, abuse me, and expect me to keep quiet.”
Allegation of disruption
The senator alleged that Mrs Ezekwesili and the petitioner were at the hearing to cause disruption.
“These are people that have been clamouring that they were not given an opportunity to prove their case; the opportunity came. The petitioner started by saying the committee is biased and she cannot lead evidence. I said why can’t you lead evidence in your case? You already have an affidavit; adopt the affidavit.
“He said no, jumping from one excuse to the other just like Oby Ezekwesili. She said she’s a witness; take the oath so that you can tell Nigerians and the whole world what you know about this case. She said no. They actually came to disrupt the sitting.”
Equal opportunity in the Senate
Addressing Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s concerns about silencing female senators, Mr Nwebonyi dismissed the claims, insisting that all senators, regardless of gender, have equal opportunities in the chamber.
“Everybody has equal opportunity in the Senate, be it a man or a woman. We are all equal. Senator Natasha, who alleged that the senate president is silencing the voice of female senators… this is a woman that has moved up to six motions, this is a woman that has to her credit, three bills, the records are there,” he said.
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Sexual harassment allegation
The senator also denied allegations that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, sexually harassed Mr Akpoti-Uduaghan.
“I was there. I was the closest person to Senator Natasha. Let me give you a brief account. On that fateful day, when we landed at the international airport, as God will have it, I drove in her vehicle from the international airport to the senate president’s house. After attending other series of programmes in Uyo, the senate president invited us. We retired to the senate president’s house in the same vehicle.
“When we went to the house of Mr President, I remembered vividly that she was complaining of her shoe paining her. She stayed back with the husband. I went up to meet the senate president with other senators; over 20 senators were there. The man took us around his garden and gave us dinner. When it was midnight, we all sang birthday song in honour of the senate president. Never a time the senate president held her hand as alleged,” he narrated.
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