EZEKWESILI CAN’T TELL A RED CAP CHIEF TO SHUT UP – SENATOR NWAEBONYI
Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi has vowed to report former Minister of Education Oby Ezekwesili to Igbo traditional leaders after she told him to “shut up” during a heated exchange at a Senate committee hearing.
Nwaebonyi, the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate representing Ebonyi North, made this declaration on Monday, March 31, while speaking on ‘Kakaaki,’ a breakfast programme on AIT.
The confrontation occurred on March 25 during a hearing by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions. The session was convened following a fresh petition from Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central, who has repeatedly accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment.
Ezekwesili attended the hearing as a witness alongside Abiola Akiode, legal counsel to Akpoti-Uduaghan, and Zubairu Yakubu, the petitioner. Meanwhile, Nwaebonyi, appearing as a witness for Akpabio, repeatedly interrupted Ezekwesili during her remarks. This led her to respond, “Please, will you shut up?” while urging him to “compose himself and stop making noise.”
The exchange prompted an immediate reaction from Nwaebonyi, who deemed Ezekwesili’s remark “unacceptable.”
“As a person, I can’t talk to my wife like that in public. I can’t talk to my driver like that in public. I can’t talk to any woman like that. I have never done that in my life. I respect women,” he stated.
“I am one of the people championing the rights and privileges of women. As a legal practitioner, I have won numerous cases for women denied their inheritance rights because their fathers had no male children.
“I have won so many cases pro bono. The facts are there. If you go to Ebonyi, you would see them. I am one of the South-East leaders with programmes dedicated to building houses for widows and sponsoring their children’s education. I have over 300 beneficiaries. All these efforts demonstrate my respect, regard, and love for women.”
Expressing his displeasure further, Nwaebonyi stated that Ezekwesili’s remark insulted his status as a senator and an Igbo traditional leader.
“For a woman to get up in public and tell me to shut up and call me a hooligan—me, a red cap chief in Igboland who has made his mark…
“I have made my contribution. I stood for election and secured over 500 votes to be in the Senate.
“And for someone who has never won a ward councillorship election to come to my office and tell me to shut up and call me a hooligan… this is unacceptable. I will take this matter up with the Igbo traditional leadership because such disrespect has never happened before.”
The clash has since sparked widespread reactions, with some framing it as a matter of respect and cultural decorum, while others view it as part of a broader debate on gender and power dynamics in Nigerian politics.
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