President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has upgraded the national honor bestowed upon Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, to the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, following protests from members of the National Assembly.
Initially, in his 64th Independence Anniversary Speech on October 1, Tinubu had announced the Commander of the Federal Republic honor for Abbas and the deputy senate president.
However, this move sparked a debate in the House of Representatives, with lawmakers arguing that the honor was not commensurate with Abbas’ position.
Lawmaker Philip Agbese from Benue sponsored a motion, stating that the national assembly is constitutionally established as a bicameral legislature comprising two equal chambers, and it’s discriminatory to confer a higher honor on the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, while giving Abbas a lower one.
Agbese noted that “the conferment of the title of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger on the president of the senate and the conferment of the Commander of the Federal Republic on the speaker of the house of representatives and deputy president of the senate, perpetuates the inappropriate subordination of the speaker to the president of the senate.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, announced on Friday that Tinubu was persuaded by the House of Representatives’ position and has decided to remedy the “historical error and oversight”.
Onanuga stated, “Thus, he has decided to upgrade the Speaker to GCON from CFR, in accordance with the National Order of Precedence.”
The formal decoration ceremony for Abbas, the Senate President, other principal officers of the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria will take place later.
