National Honour: Tinubu reverses self, confers GCON on Speaker Tajudeen

President Bola Tinubu has conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) title on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, following protests from the Green Chamber.

In his Independence Day address, President Tinubu conferred the GCON title on the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, while the title of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) was conferred on M Tajudeen and the Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau.

The CFR is just below the GCON in the hierarchy of national honours.

The president’s decision was challenged in the House on Wednesday through a motion of urgent public importance “signed” by all 360 members of the House.

Lawmakers argued that the president’s decision was discriminatory, insisting that the senate president and the speaker are equals and, therefore, should receive the same title.

In a reaction to the lawmakers’ decision, Mr Tinubu, currently on annual vacation in the United Kingdom, issued a statement via one of his media aides, Bayo Onanuga, reversing his decision.

Mr Onanuga said the president was persuaded by the lawmakers’ arguments, which led to the reversal.

“President Tinubu was convinced by the position of the House of Representatives and has decided to correct the historical oversight,” he said.

“As a result, the Speaker will be upgraded from CFR to GCON, in line with the National Order of Precedence.

“The Speaker, Senate President, other principal officers of the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria will be formally decorated with their new honours at a later date,” the statement Mr Onanuga added.