The fallout from a tense Senate committee hearing last week has escalated into a cultural dispute with Senate Deputy Chief Whip Onyekachi Nwaebonyi vowing to report former Education Minister Oby Ezekwesili to Igbo traditional leaders over what he described as a “public insult.”
The conflict stems from a Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions hearing on March 25, where Ezekwesili, appearing as a witness, told Nwaebonyi to “compose himself and stop making noise” before pointedly saying: “will you shut up?”
The committee hearing was convened to review a petition from Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central, who accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment.
Ezekwesili had joined Abiola Akiode, counsel to Akpoti-Uduaghan, and petitioner Zubairu Yakubu as a witness. Nwaebonyi appeared on behalf of Akpabio. Tension, however, ran high when Ezekwesili rebuked Nwaebonyi for interrupting her.
The remark elicited an immediate reaction from the senator, who considered it a grave affront.
While the former minister admitted on live television that she used the words ’’ shut up,’’ Nwaebonyi in another programme apologised to her on grounds of an age difference and the fact that she admitted.
But during a television programme yesterday, the Senator who represents Ebonyi North again voiced his outrage. He stressed that he would never speak to anyone in such a manner as Ezekwesili, especially in a public setting.
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