President Bola Tinubu has budged on the request of the House of Representatives, conferring the nation’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), on Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
Persecondnews reported that in his 64th Independence Anniversary Speech on 1 October, Tinubu conferred the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker and the Deputy Senate President while he conferred on Senate President GCON.
This development led to a debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, calling on the President to confer on the Speaker the same honour bestowed on the Senate President.
The Representatives had rejected the CFR national honour for the speaker, demanding a GCON and that the House of Representatives is not inferior or surbordinate to the Senate.
A statement issued on Friday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, explained: “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.”
The speaker, the Senate President, other principal officers of the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria will be decorated with their new honours later, according to the statement.
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