The Presidency said President Bola Tinubu made a historical and oversight by awarding Speaker Tajudeen Abbas a Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) award instead of a Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) award.

Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser to the president on Information and strategy, stated this on Friday.

STATE HOUSE PRESS STATEMENTPRESIDENT TINUBU CONFERS GCON ON HOUSE SPEAKER TAJUDEEN ABBASPresident 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,… pic.twitter.com/FBTznn0bnm— Bayo Onanuga (@aonanuga1956) October 4, 2024

Some House of Representatives members had earlier protested the CFR national honour Tinubu awarded Abbas on Wednesday. They argued and demanded an award upgrade from CFR to GCON. The premise of their argument was that Chief Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun got a GCON award when Abbas was Nigeria’s fourth-highest ranked elected official.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINER: Was Tinubu Legally Wrong to Give Kekere-Ekun GCON Honour When Abbas Got CFR?

The presidency said that it caught the oversight and historical inaccuracy in awarding Abbas a CFR as a result of the persuasive nudge from the lawmakers.

“In his 64th Independence Anniversary Speech on 1 October, President Tinubu 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 presidency stated.

“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.”

On Wednesday, the lower chamber was engaged in a heated where lawmakers rejected the initial CFR honour given to Abbas during Tinubu’s Independence Day address on Tuesday.

The House argued that the Speaker, being the fourth-highest ranking official in Nigeria, deserved the GCON honour, traditionally reserved for higher-ranking government officials such as the Senate President and Chief Justice of Nigeria.

Philip Agbese, the deputy spokeseperson of the House, and other lawmakers said Kekere-Ekun, who ranks lower than the Speaker in the national order of precedence, should not have got a GCON while the speaker got a CFR.

READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tinubu Swears In Kudirat Kekere-Ekun as 23rd CJN

National honours are a long-standing tradition in Nigeria, established in 1963 and regulated by the National Honours Act. Tinubu’s decision to award a GCON to the Kudirat and a CFR to Abbas is rooted in recent historical precedence.

FIJ has reported how former Speakers Yakubu Dogara and Femi Gbajabiamila received the CFR in their respective tenures while past chief justices Walter Onnoghen and Olukayode Ariwoola bagged the GCON honour.
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