No apologies, Sen. Nwaebonyi defends calling Ezekwesili ‘insult to womanhood’ at Senate hearing

Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi of Ebonyi North has defended his heated exchange with former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, during a Senate Committee hearing on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions on Tuesday.

The confrontation took place while the committee was reviewing a petition filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Ezekwesili was present at the hearing alongside legal counsel Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi and petitioner Zubairu Yakubu.

Tensions flared when Yakubu raised concerns about the neutrality of some committee members, alleging their close ties to Akpabio.

This angered certain lawmakers who saw the remarks as an attack on the committee’s credibility.

Ezekwesili also drew criticism for what some perceived as an attempt to assert herself forcefully into the proceedings.

At one point, Ezekwesili requested to be placed under oath, stating, “I am a citizen of Nigeria.”

This led to a verbal clash with Nwaebonyi, who reacted sharply, saying, “You’re a fool. What do you mean? Why are you talking to me like that? I will not take it. You’re an insult to womanhood. People like you cannot be here.”

Ezekwesili fired back, calling him a “hooligan,” escalating the altercation before order was eventually restored.

Speaking on Channels Television later that evening, Nwaebonyi insisted that Ezekwesili provoked the confrontation by first calling him a hooligan and telling him to “shut up.”

“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 and call him a hooligan, that’s unacceptable,” he argued.

When asked if he regretted his actions, the senator stood by his response. “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 and a grandmother, ask her first.”