Tinubu confers GCON on House Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has yielded to pressure from lawmakers by conferring the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), the nation’s second-highest national honor, on the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.

Naija News reports that this was disclosed on Friday in a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

In his 64th Independence Anniversary speech on October 1, President Tinubu had initially conferred the title of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker and the Deputy Senate President. However, this sparked a debate in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, urging the President to grant a higher honor to the Speaker.

Onanuga explained that President Tinubu was convinced by the House’s position and decided to correct the historical oversight.

“He has therefore decided to upgrade the Speaker’s honor from CFR to GCON, in line with the National Order of Precedence,” Onanuga stated.

He added that the Speaker, Senate President, other principal officers of the National Assembly, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria would soon be formally decorated with their new honors.