Olayiwola Matthew
President Bola Tinubu has conferred award of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), on Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the House of Representatives.
Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
In his 64th Independence Anniversary Speech on October 1, Tinubu had conferred the Commander of the Federal Republic( CFR) on the speaker and the deputy senate president.
However, the House of Representatives felt this honour was not befitting of the Speaker’s position, leading to Wednesday’s debate.
Moved by the House’s position, President Tinubu decided to rectify the “historical error and oversight” by upgrading Abbas to GCON, in line with the National Order of Precedence.
Onanuga confirming the upgrade said President Tinubu was persuaded by the House of Representatives position and has decided to correct the historical error and oversight.
The statement reads; ““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.
“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.
“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.
“The speaker, the Senate President, other principal officers of the National Assembly and the Chief Justice of Nigeria will be formally decorated with their new honours later,” the statement read.