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Natasha: What Led To Shouting Match Ezekwesili And I At Senate Committee – Nwebonyi
The lawmaker representing Ebonyi North Senatorial District, Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi, has narrated what transpired at the Senate Ethics Committee’s hearing.
On Tuesday, Nwebonyi had a verbal clash with former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili in Abuja as the committee began proceeding into the sexual harassment allegations involving suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central and Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
Tensions flared when Nwaebonyi resorted to derogatory remarks, labelling Ezekwesili an ‘insult to womanhood’ and a ‘hooligan.’
READ ALSO: Natasha: You’re A Fool’ – Senator, Ezekwesili Trade Insults At Hearing
But speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, the senator berated the ex-minister for first calling him a hooligan and asking him, a serving lawmaker, to shut up.
He said, “It started when she was asked to be an oath because she said she was a witness. She said, ‘no she can’t be on oath, she can’t oath.’
“As a person, I said I am willing to be sworn on oath so that I can give my own evidence. I was addressing the presiding office. She turned to me and said, ‘Will you shut up your mouth, you are a hooligan.”
READ ALSO: Dasuki, Others Re-arraigned Over Alleged N33.2bn Fraud
According to the Ebonyi lawmaker, he replied Ezekwesili saying: “You are the 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 his mouth and added that I am a hooligan.”
Nwebonyi said regardless of what transpired, he has no regret, though he respects Ezekwesili as a woman.
When asked if his response to the former minister was fair, the lawmaker queried why she would treat him in that manner.
“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 of the federal republic and a grandmother, ask her first,” he added.
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JUST IN: Ooni Visits Olubadan-designate Ladoja In Ibadan
The Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitan Ogunwusi, on Sunday, paid a visit to the Olubadan designate, Rashidi Ladoja, at his Bodija private residence in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The PUNCH reports that Oba Ladoja will be installed as the 44th Olubadan on Friday, September 26, 2025, following the demise of the 43rd Olubadan, Oba Owolabi Olakulehin, who joined his ancestors on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the age of 90 years.
READ ALSO:Ladoja Coronation Date As 44th Olubadan Revealed
The two paramount rulers are currently exchanging pleasantries.
Details later…
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JUST IN: FG Revokes 1,263 Mineral Licenses Over Unpaid Fees
The Federal Government through the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development has announced a fresh revocation of not less than 1,263 mineral licenses.
These licenses, which will now be deleted from the Electronic Mining Cadastral System portal of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.
The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, gave the revocation announcement in a statement issued by his special assistant on Media, Segun Tomori, on Sunday in Abuja.
The minister explained that the directive was issued due to the companies’ failure to comply with the requirement of paying their annual service fees.
The latest revocation brings the total mineral titles revoked under the current administration to 3, 794 including,619 mineral titles revoked for defaulting in paying annual service fees and 912 for dormancy last year.
READ ALSO:FG Introduces Chinese Language Into School Curriculum
By opening up the areas formerly covered by these licenses, the revocation is expected to spur fresh applications by investors looking for fresh opportunities.
The statement read, “Not less than 1,263 mineral licenses will be deleted from the portal of the Electronic Mining Cadastral system of the Nigerian Mining Cadastral Office, MCO, following their revocation by the Federal Government.
“These include 584 exploration licenses, 65 mining leases, 144 quarry licenses, and 470 small-scale mining leases.”
Approving the revocation following the recommendation of the MCO, the Minister said applying the law to keep speculators and unserious investors away from the mining sector would make way for diligent investors and grow the sector.
“The era of obtaining licences and keeping them in drawers for the highest bidder, while financially capable and industrious businessmen are complaining of access to good sites, is over.
READ ALSO:FG Gives Mining Firms Deadline For Community Agreements
“The annual service fee is the minimum evidence that you are interested in mining. You don’t have to wait for us to revoke the license because the law allows you to return the license if you change your mind,” the minister said.
He warned that the revocation does not mean the Federal Government has pardoned the annual service debt owed by licensees, adding that the list will be forwarded to the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission to ensure that debtors pay or face the wrath of the law.
“This is to encourage due diligence and emphasise the consequences of inundating the license application processes with speculative activities.”
In the recommendation to the minister, the Director-General of the MCO, Simon Nkom, disclosed that there were 1,957 initial defaulters when the MCO published the intention to revoke licences in the Federal Government Gazette on June 19, 2025.
He informed the minister that the gazette was distributed to MCO offices nationwide to sensitise licencees and encourage them to comply within 30 days in compliance with the Minerals and Mining Act 2007 and relevant regulations.
READ ALSO:FG Gazettes New Tax Reform Laws
He observed that the delay in the final recommendation was due to complaints of several licensees who claimed to have paid to the Federal Government through Remita and had to be reconciled.
Earlier this month, the DG MCO had hinted that more mining licences would be revoked as part of ongoing efforts to sanitise the solid minerals sector and protect investors from fraudsters.
According to Nkom, the clean-up exercise, which covers expired, speculative, and inactive titles, is necessary to make room for genuine investors and ensure compliance with the law.
This is part of ongoing efforts at sanitising the sector since the inception of the Tinubu administration, and the salutary effects of the reforms are massive and manifest despite the attempts to push back by defaulters and their agents.
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