Reps reject Tinubu’s CFR Award for Speaker Abbas, call for GCON instead

The 10th House of Representatives has turned down the award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) to Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.

The members expressed concerns over perceived discrimination in the awarding of national honors to the leadership of the National Assembly.

On the occasion of Nigeria’s 64th Independence Anniversary, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu announced the conferment of national honors on several prominent figures, including the new Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; and Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, among others.

Reacting to the honour in a motion sponsored by all 360 lawmakers, the House drew attention to the conferment of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on Akpabio and Justice Kekere-Ekun

The lawmakers, in their rejection of the conferment of the CFR honor on Speaker Abbas, contended that both chambers of the National Assembly hold equal status and emphasized that the House of Representatives, often referred to as the Green Chamber, should not be considered a lower chamber.

The House also called on President Tinubu to correct what they described as an error, lamenting that the GCON honour was conferred on the CJN who is lower in rank than the Speaker.

Meanwhile, Tinubu also conferred the honour of CFR on Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin; and awarded the honour of the Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) to the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu.