October 04, (THEWILL) – President Bola Tinubu has conferred the nation’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), on Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
This is coming after Lawmakers in the lower chamber, on Wednesday, demanded an upgrade of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) honour earlier awarded the Speaker by President Tinubu on Tuesday.
THEWILL reports that President Tinubu, on Tuesday, had conferred national honours on Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN); Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and his Deputy.
According to the awards announced by the President in a nationwide broadcast to commemorate Nigeria’s 64th independence Anniversary, Tinubu said, “The Senate President and the Chief Justice of the Federation have been conferred with the honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON). The deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives have the honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), while the deputy speaker of the House has been awarded Commander of the Order of Niger (CON)”. Commander of the Order of Niger (CON)”.
Reacting to the National Honours in a motion of urgent public importance moved by Philip Agbese on Wednesday, the House resolved the members of the Green Chamber are not inferior to Senators, and declared that Senate President Akpabio and Reps Speaker Abbas should be treated equally.
The motion, signed by 360 members of the House, called for the abolition of the “upper chamber and lower chamber nomenclature”, stating that both chambers are equal. They, therefore, called for upgrade.
In a statement issued on Friday, by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said President Tinubu was persuaded by the House of Representatives position and has decided to remedy the historical error and oversight.
“Thus, he has decided to upgrade the Speaker to GCON from CFR, in accordance with the National Order of Precedence”, he said.
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, the statement added.
