After a demonstration by House of Representatives members, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu awarded Speaker of the House Tajudeen Abbas the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), the country’s second highest decoration.
President Tinubu first presented Abbas and the Deputy Senate President with the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) title during his speech on October 1st, the 64th anniversary of the country’s independence. But this sparked a discussion in the House, where MPs claimed that it was a question of national precedent and demanded that the Speaker receive more prominence.
In response to the demonstration, Tinubu decided to correct the “historical error and oversight” by upgrading the Speaker’s award to GCON, as stated in a statement released by President’s Special Advisor on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Friday, October 4.
“President Tinubu has been persuaded by the position of the House of Representatives and has thus decided to upgrade the Speaker to GCON from CFR, in accordance with the National Order of Precedence,” the statement read.
Onanuga added that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the President of the Senate, and other key officials would formally get their new titles at a later time.
