Following the rejection of the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his Independence Day broadcast, the honour was on Friday upscaled to the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
Following the rejection of the national honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his Independence Day broadcast, the honour was on Friday upscaled to the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
In his Independence Day speech, President Tinubu said the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, and Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, chief justice of Nigeria (CJN) will be conferred with the GCON. At the same time, Hon. Abbas and Senator Barau Jibrin, Deputy President of the Senate, will be honoured with the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR).
But on 2 October 2024, the House of Representatives lawmakers at plenary through a motion by Hon Phillips Agbesi (APC Venue) and amended by some members rejected the planned conferment of the CFR title on its speaker.
The House said it is “discriminatory” for President Tinubu to confer GCON on Senator Akpabio and Justice Kekere-Ekun while reserving CFR for Hon. Abbas.
The National Honours Act of 1964 states that only two GCON awards can be given in a year. However, it is yet to be ascertained if this has been kept religiously by successive governments.
In amending Hon. Agbesi’s motion, it was agreed that the House should call for an amendment to the National Honours Act of 1964 to appropriately recognise the Speaker of the House of Representatives as co-head of the National Assembly and, accordingly, confer the national honour of GCON on the speaker, ensuring parity in recognition with the president of the Senate.
The lawmakers suggested that this should be accomplished before the formal decoration by the President. The House also called on all government institutions, officials, and the media to be mindful of language and titles that suggest a hierarchical structure between the Senate and the House of Representatives or their respective leaders.
In addition, the House constituted an ad-hoc committee, chaired by the House Leader, Hon. Julius Ihonvbere, to investigate the issue and report to the House within three days.
However, in a statement on Friday, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said the House’s position on the issue prompted the president to remedy the “historical error and oversight.”
Mr. Onanuga clarified that the upgrade of the Speaker’s (Hon. Abbas) honour from CFR to GCON aligns with the National Order of Precedence. His words: “The speaker, the Senate President, other principal officers of the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria will be formally decorated with their new honours later”.
Hon. Abbas will be the first Speaker of the House of Representatives to be conferred with the GCON title.
In 2008, lawmakers in the House of Representatives protested the conferment of the CFR on Hon. Dimeji Bankole, a former speaker between November 2007 to June 2011. The House said the title “was too small” for Hon. Bankole’s status.
The Chief of Staff to the President, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who served as the Speaker of the Ninth Assembly, also complained when he was given a lesser title compared to the Senate president.
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