Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi of Ebonyi North has stood by his fiery exchange with former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, insisting he has no regrets over calling her an “insult to womanhood.”
The heated confrontation erupted during a Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions hearing on Tuesday, where tensions flared over a petition filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Ezekwesili, attending alongside legal counsel Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi and chief petitioner Zubairu Yakubu, challenged the neutrality of the committee members, alleging close ties to Akpabio. Her comments triggered a backlash from some senators, who saw them as an attack on the committee’s credibility. Things escalated further when she requested to be placed under oath, asserting, “I am a citizen of Nigeria.”
Her insistence on being heard sparked a verbal clash with Nwaebonyi, who furiously retorted, “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, refusing to back down, fired back by calling him a “hooligan,” further intensifying the exchange before order was eventually restored.
‘I Stand by My Words’ – Nwaebonyi
Speaking to Channels Television later that evening, Nwaebonyi insisted he was merely responding to Ezekwesili’s alleged provocation, claiming she first told him to “shut up” and called him a 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 and call him a hooligan, that’s unacceptable,” he said.
When asked if he had any regrets, the senator was defiant: “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.”
The incident has since sparked debate across the country, with reactions pouring in over the conduct of both parties and the broader implications for civility in Nigeria’s political discourse.
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