House of Representatives
We reject discriminatory national honour of House leaders – Reps
The House of Representatives said it is dissatisfied with the national honour of the Commander of the Federal Republic, CFR, given to the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, describing as discriminatory.
The Federal Government had conferred the national honours on the leadership of the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu.
A motion sponsored by all 360 lawmakers condemned the conferment of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on Senate President Godswill Akpabio; and the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, and lesser national honours on House leadership.
Specifically , the House members rejected Tinubu’s conferment of the honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) on Speaker Tajudeen Abbas.
The lawmakers argued that both chambers of the National Assembly are equal and the Green Chamber should not even be referred to as a lower chamber.
They said the GCON honour was conferred on the CJN who is lower in rank than the Speaker, urging Tinubu to correct the error.
The President had on Tuesday announced the conferment during a broadcast to celebrate Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day Anniversary in Abuja.
Tinubu also conferred the honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (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.