Tinubu makes U-turn, confers GCON on Speaker

 

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has conferred the nation’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.

This was disclosed in a release last night, by his spokesman, Bayo Onanuga. In his 64th Independence Anniversary Speech on 1 October, the President conferred the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker and the Deputy Senate President.

This development led to a debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, calling on the President to confer a higher honour on the Speaker.

The President 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 would be formally decorated with their new honours later.

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Senate Matters, Senator Basheer Lado, has clarified that the national honours conferred on Presiding Officers of both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Tuesday by the President, was not intended to undermine the target recipients.

President Tinubu had, in his national broadcast on the 64th Independence anniversary of Nigeria, conferred national honours of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) on the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt Hon Tajudeen Abbas, while the Deputy Speaker, Rt Hon Benjamin Kalu, was honoured as Commander of the Order of Niger (CON).

However, at separate plenaries, while the Akpabio and Jibrin, were congratulated by fellow senators, a motion was moved in the House on seeming inappropriateness of status of honour conferred on the Speaker, which was interpreted to be rejection, but was later debunked by the House of Representatives.

Shedding more light on the national honours in a statement in Abuja yesterday, Senator Lado said that the honours were conferred on the presiding officers based on laid down precedents and procedures and not by any other criterion.

The statement reads: I would like to clarify that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, exercising his authority under the National Honours Act, conferred the esteemed title of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas PhD, based on established precedents and it was not meant to undermine the Speaker or the House of Representatives.

“I, however, commend the House of Representatives for its clarification regarding the National Honour conferred on the Speaker by the President during Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day celebrations.

“I wish to reiterate President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to a harmonious working relationship with the National Assembly, given that cooperation between both arms of government is essential to achieving Nigeria’s development objectives.

“It is noteworthy that the House did not reject the honour conferred on the Speaker, but rather sought clarification on the National Order of Precedence. The motion presented before the House was framed as an institutional issue, not a personal request by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.”