Nwebonyi stormed out angrily, exchanging heated words with House members who jeered at him.
A heated exchange unfolded in the National Assembly on Thursday during the 2025 budget defence session which reviewed the Nigeria Police’s previous budget. The session turned chaotic when Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, began outlining expenditures for constructing five zonal police headquarters.
Egbetokun had barely commenced his presentation when Rep. Mark Esset interrupted, questioning why the details presented by the IGP were missing from the documents provided to lawmakers.
The Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Onyekachi Nwebonyi (APC, Ebonyi North) escalated the issue, insisting he should have an accurate copy of the IGP’s presentation.
Nwebonyi said: “We are here to serve Nigerians and Nigerians should see us as a very serious institution.
“We are not against the presentation of the IGP. But I, as the Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, should have what the IGP is reading.”
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Despite attempts to clarify the situation, the session devolved into chaos. When the chairman of the House committee on police affairs, Rep. Abubakar Makki Yalleman, overruled Nwebonyi’s objections and allowed the IGP to continue, the senator stormed out angrily, exchanging heated words with House members who jeered at him.
Rep Yusuf Gagdi was apparently disappointed at what transpired and later defended the decision, stating it followed parliamentary procedure, and lawmakers should only speak when given the floor.
Order was later restored, allowing the IGP to resume his presentation, during which he highlighted the police force’s severe underfunding and calling for its removal from the restrictive “envelope” budget system. He also revealed that President Bola Tinubu had increased the annual recruitment quota from 10,000 to 30,000, which would enhance police operations.
Egbetokun urged lawmakers to support the police in fulfilling their mandate, emphasising the need for better funding to meet the country’s security challenges.
In response, lawmakers were divided. Sen. Abdul Ningi (PDP, Bauchi Central) argued that the envelope system was neither a legal entity nor ratified by the National Assembly and should remain the norm.
He said, “Envelop was never a legal entity and neither was it ratified by the National Assembly and should therefore continue as the normative.”
However, other lawmakers supported revisiting the budgeting framework for the police, advocating for a more flexible, needs-based funding model to enhance the Force’s operational efficiency.
STAR Check: Nigerians, particularly, constituents of Ebonyi North district, can keep tabs on the legislative performance of Sen. Nwebonyi throughout the 10th senate here.
