Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi (APC – Ebonyi South) and a former Minister of Education, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, on Tuesday, clashed in the Senate over alleged bias in the handling of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual harassment allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions later threw out Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition, saying the matter was already a subject of litigation.
The petition was authored by Mr Zubairu Yakubu, one of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s constituents.
The clash occurred during a session by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Code of Conduct and Public Petitions on the sexual harassment allegations levelled against the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, by suspended lawmaker representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
Senator Nwebonyi and Ezekwesili engaged in war of words as the Senator representing Ebonyi South described the former Minister in derogatory terms.
The petitioner, Yakubu, from Kogi Central Senatorial District had appeared before the Committee on Tuesday in company of Ezekwesili, who appeared as a witness.
The Committee ruled that it could not sit on the petition in view of a pending case filed against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan by Unoma Akpabio, wife of the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
Citing Senate rules, Senator Imasuen noted that the practice of the Red Chamber was to desist from entertaining petitions on any matters pending before the Court.
During the proceedings, tension rose when Nwebonyi resorted to derogatory remarks, labelling Ezekwesili an ‘insult to womanhood’ and a ‘hooligan.’
The verbal war ensued when Ezekwesili and some other attendees’ refused to take an oath during the committee’s hearing.
While one of the senators insisted that either they take the oath or the committee would end the meeting, Ezekwesili and her colleagues insisted on not taking the oath, during which Senator Nwebonyi became apparently angry.
“You are an insult to womanhood, hooligan. People like you are not supposed to be here, hooligan. You are an insult to womanhood!” Nwebonyi repeatedly shouted at Ezekwesili, who maintained her stance while staff made frantic attempts to switch off their microphones.
Social media have been abuzz following the altercation with many Nigerians decrying Nwebonyi’s conduct as unprofessional and unbecoming of a Senator.
Speaking with journalists after the Senate Committee adjourned, indefinitely, Ezekwesili accused the Senate of violating the Constitution as she maintained that the Senate rule cited by the Committee was not superior to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
She said: “The Nigerian Senate keeps telling citizens they are subject to Senate rules, even when those rules violate the Constitution. This is unacceptable in a democracy.”
She further argued that the embattled Kogi Central lawmaker was denied fair hearing in clear breach of provisions of the Constitution.
“The Senate placed its own rules above the laws of the land. Now, with this petitioner, they have done the same thing—using procedural loopholes to avoid addressing critical issues,” she said.
The former Minister who insisted that the Senate Committee has shown bias called for an independent panel to review Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition.
“If a petitioner says they do not believe the Senate committee will give them a fair hearing due to clear bias, it is only just that an independent body reviews the matter,” she said.
She warned that the Senate’s actions could set a dangerous precedent where internal rules override the Constitution.
“The Senate must respect the Constitution. Otherwise, we risk turning our democracy into a system where powerful individuals manipulate processes to silence opposition and suppress justice,” she said.
Speaking further on the alleged bias by the Senate, the petitioner, cited previous remarks attributed to the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Imasuen, where he described Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition as dead on arrival during a previous Committee sitting.
“How can the chairman serve as a judge in a case where he has already publicly taken a position? What is the need for us to present our case when a verdict has already been given before hearing us?,” he queried.
Yakubu expressed disappointment over the objection by the Committee to his request that the Kogi Central senator who has been suspended for six months by the Senate be allowed to testify before the panel as principal witness.
He noted that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan was in custody of crucial documentary evidence to support her claims, but she had been barred from entering the National Assembly as part of her suspension.
“In my petition, I clearly stated that my witness would present her evidence personally. But she was not allowed into the premises. If my key witness is denied access, how can I proceed with my case?” he queried.
Legal counsel to the petitioner, Dr. Abiola Akinyode also faulted alleged inconsistencies in the Senate’s handling of petitions.
“There is nothing in Yakubu’s petition that was not in Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s original petition. If the Senate dismissed her petition as ‘dead on arrival,’ then logically, Yakubu’s should also be dismissed.
“The Senate seems to be operating under its own rules, separate from the Constitution. That is why they can suspend a senator for six months without following due process,” Akinyode said.
She also faulted the defense by the Committee that it could hear a petition on a subsisting case before a court of competent jurisdiction.
“If they knew the case was in court, they should have simply written to the petitioner stating they could not entertain it. Instead, they invited him, only to dismiss the petition on the basis that it was already in court.”
