March 26, (THEWILL) – A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, has declared that Tuesday’s actions of Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, the senator representing Ebonyi North, reflected the “indecorous behaviour” of some public officials in the country.
Ezekwesili stated this during an interview on Arise TV while narrating her side of the drama that unfolded on Tuesday, at the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions’ hearing on the case of sexual harassment allegations filed by suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, against Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
Tempers flared on Tuesday at the Committee panel as Ezekwesili and Senator Nwaebonyi engaged in a shouting match after the former minister ordered the Ebonyi North senator to “shut up”.
Narrating her side of the drama, Ezekwesili said, “The petitioner had insisted that he would not proceed with his main petition until he received assurances regarding the two objections he had raised. 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 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 added that Nwaebonyi’s reaction reflected the “indecorous behaviour” of some public officials in the country.
Speaking further in an interview on Channels TV Wednesday, Ezekwesili said, “In this society, there is a historic attitude to voice; not just the voice of women but those who say that they do not agree with a situation or who like me are persistent in demanding public accountability from those that lead an institution that belongs to the society.
“It is a historic more or less function. And so, that attitude pervades the way our lawmakers are behaving. I was actually very pleased with what happened yesterday because now it is in the public domain what women endure in many instances, and the rest of society may know little about it but has not focused on it.”
Meanwhile, Senator Nwaebonyi has blamed Ezekwesili for the altercation for calling him a “hooligan” and ordering a serving senator to “shut up”.
Narrating his side of the incident when he was featured on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme, he said, “It started when she was asked to be on oath because she said she was a witness. She said, ‘No she can’t be on oath, she
“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.”
The Ebonyi lawmaker said he replied to 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.”
Responding to whether his reaction to the former minister was fair, the lawmaker questioned why she behaved that way towards him in the first place.
“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.
The deputy chief whip also said he has no regrets about the incident and still respects Ezekwesili as a woman despite all that transpired.
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