Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, the Senate Deputy Chief Whip, has spoken about his recent altercation with former Minister Oby Ezekwesili during a Senate hearing.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV from 7:27, Nwebonyi said that the conflict stated when Ezekwesili disrespected him by asking him to shut up. He stated that respect should be mutual and not forced. He emphasized that if someone respects him, he will also return that respect. He said that he holds the position of a senator in Nigeria, which, in his view, places him at a higher social rank than Ezekwesili.
Nwebonyi also said that even though Ezekwesili once served as a minister, a senator is bigger than a minister.
In Nwebonyi’s words: “I am a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by social stratification I am higher than Oby Ezekwesili in this country. She is supposed to respect me. She was a minister, a senator is bigger than a minister”