President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has bestowed the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Nigeria’s second-highest national honor, on Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
This decision follows protests from members of the lower chamber of the National Assembly regarding the President’s initial award during his 64th Independence Anniversary Speech on October 1, where Abbas received the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) instead.
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The debate sparked in the House of Representatives led to calls for the President to confer a higher honor on the Speaker.
In a statement issued on Friday, Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, indicated that Tinubu was swayed by the House’s position and sought to correct what he termed a “historical error and oversight.”
“Accordingly, he has decided to upgrade the Speaker to GCON from CFR, in line with the National Order of Precedence,” Onanuga stated.
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The formal decoration ceremony for the Speaker, the Senate President, other principal officers of the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria will take place later.
