Kunle Adelabu
Following the motion sponsored by the 360 members of the House of Representatives, rejecting the conferment of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Rt. Hon Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, President Bola Tinubu, has acceded to the request of the House by conferring the nation’s second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on the Speaker.
In his 64th Independence Anniversary speech on October 1, President Tinubu had announced the conferment of 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.
Rep. Babajimi Benson, presenting the motion on the floor, said that the motion that was sponsored by members of the House, was to address the injustice that is being done to the Speaker of the House, over the years.
He argued that by the order of protocol, the Speaker comes before the CJN and he should not be conferred with lesser honour, while the CJN gets higher one.
“Mr Speaker, this motion cannot have come at a better time and I thank the 320 members for sponsoring this motion for putting democracy right.
“Injustice to one is injustice to all. This injustice has gone on for too long. It is not something that happened during this administration, but an institutional error that has festered for too long.
“Mr Speaker, I want to remind members that when order of protocol is being read, Mr Speaker comes at number four before the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), but how come do CJN gets the GCON honour and our Speaker gets the CFR honour”, Rep. Benson said.
He cited the USA political system to support his argument, and urged the members of the House to pass the motion.
“Again, when I go through comparative analysis, and compare with the bastion of democracy where we copied our tiers of government from, the United States of America, Mr Speaker, in the line of succession in America, if something happens to the President and the Vice President together, the next line to the Presidency is not the Senate President neither is it the leader of the Senate, the appropriate person is the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“So, I urge members to, please, pass this motion with the speed of light and that this grey area and lacuna be investigated by the executive, and I am sure that they will come to the conclusion that something has gone wrong somewhere”, he said.
In a statement issued on Friday, by the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, he said that President Tinubu was persuaded by the House of Representatives’ position and has decided to remedy the historical error and oversight.
“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”, he said.
