President Bola Tinubu has conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) title on the Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas.
Tinubu had in his 64th Independence Anniversary broadcast conferred the Commander of the Federal Republic(CFR) title on the Speaker and the Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin.
That move did not go well with the House of Representatives which demanded a higher honour for Abbas just like Tinubu conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on Senate President Godswill Akpabio; and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
The lawmakers said that both chambers of the National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) are equal and the Green Chamber should not even be referred to as a lower chamber.
But days after his earlier pronouncement, Tinubu conferred the GCON honour on the House of Representatives 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,” the Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy) Bayo Onanuga said in a statement on Friday evening.
He said 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.”
Abbas; the Senate President Godswill Akpabio, other principal officers of the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria will be formally decorated with their new honours later, Onanuga said.
In the wake of the House of Representatives demand, the Presidency said the Green Chamber has a harmonious working relationship with the Senate as against claims in several quarters.
“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,” the Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters Basheer Lado said earlier on Friday.
“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.”