Onyekachi Nwebonyi, the senator for the Ebonyi North Senatorial District, has advocated for the ancient buildings’ habitats in the neighborhood surrounding Abuja International Airport to be moved.
During Thursday’s last plenary, Nwebonyi made this call in a video that is currently trending.
With the support of his colleagues, the Deputy Senate Chief Whip stated that he wants the area surrounding the airport to experience the whole infrastructure overhaul that Minister Nyesom Wike is implementing in the Federal Capital Territory.
“I would like the FCT Minister to continue developing the FCT in the area around Abuja Airport. The infrastructure surrounding the airport does not give a positive impression of Nigeria, and since the community’s buildings serve as a window into the nation, I believe the FCT minister should include a budget item in his next one to either relocate the habitats or renovate the area.
“If you take into account the view as you descend into the Abuja airport, you will concur with me that it is unsightly and presents a negative picture of the country. I implore my fellow lawmakers to back this crucial legislation that will change the nation.
In response, Senate President Godswill Akpabio expressed disapproval of the airport’s relocation of the communities’ ecosystems, using his state of Akwa Ibom as an example, where rivers are likely to be visible.
Some people consider this community to be their village. Where you are going down is not where the nation’s image begins. Upon landing in my home state of Akwa Ibom, you would encounter water and creeks. Do you think we ought to move that so it won’t irritate your eyes?
Akpabio further put the bill to a voice vote at the plenary, and the sitting senators turned the bill down.
The 43-year-old lawmaker recently engaged in a heated verbal exchange with Obi Ezekwesili during the hearing on Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s sexual allegation.
The altercation began after Nwebonyi urged the committee to allow him to make his submission if Mrs Ezekwesili-led team was not ready to proceed.
Mrs Ezekwesili then jumped in, telling the senator, “Can you shut up?’
In response, an enraged Nwebonyi attacked the former minister. He said she would “never be a senator” and called her “an insult to womanhood.”
“Why should you talk to a senator like that? You can never be a senator. You are an insult to womanhood,” the senator, visibly angry, said.
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