THE House of Representatives says it neither declined nor rejected the National Honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), conferred on Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, by President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday.
Recall that President Tinubu, on Tuesday, conferred national honours on Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN); Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives and his Deputy.
According to the awards announced by the President in a nationwide broadcast to commemorate Nigeria’s 64th independence Anniversary, Tinubu said, “The Senate President and the Chief Justice of the Federation have been conferred with the honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON). The deputy Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives have the honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR), while the deputy speaker of the House has been awarded Commander of the Order of Niger (CON)”.
The House had at plenary on Wednesday, said the conferment of CFR on Speaker Abbas and Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, was “a perpetuation of inappropriate subordination of the Speaker to the President of the Senate.
The House, therefore, set an ad-hoc Committee chaired by the House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, with leaders of the northern and southern caucus, as well as zonal caucuses and others to liaise with the Presidency to correct the infraction.
However, in a statement issued lqwt night by the Deputy Spokesperson of the House and lead sponsor of the motion, Philip Agbese, the House argued that “the Speaker, as the nation’s number four citizen, follows the Vice President and President of the Senate in precedence, with the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) ranked fifth.”
Agbese said members urged President Bola Tinubu to consider the Speaker for the award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) to reflect the status of his office and position in the National Order of Precedence.
According to him, the misunderstanding regarding the purported rejection of the honour arose from an amendment proposed by Anthony Adebayo Adepoju, which was ultimately deemed inappropriate and withdrawn.
“We must use this opportunity to educate some segments of the media that contributions from Honourable Members during a debate do not constitute House Resolutions. The media must diligently report what the House, in its collective wisdom, adopts as a resolution on any particular issue.”
He reaffirmed that the House did not reject CFR honour conferred on Speaker Abbas by Tinubu, saying the House celebrates the prestigious award conferred in exercise of the President’s powers under the National Honours Act.
“It serves as a tribute to the Speaker’s distinguished service to the nation and underscores the vital role of the House of Representatives in Nigeria’s development.
“We wish to clarify, therefore, that this is not a matter for personal advancement of the Speaker, but a multi partisan request for recognition of the institution of the House of Representatives by all stakeholders within the framework of Nigeria’s democratic institutions”, Agbese said.
He added that the House “resolved to respectfully urge the President to consider upgrading the honour to align with the National Order of Precedence. The House subsequently referred the motion to an Ad Hoc Committee, which will include representatives from the Zonal and Regional Caucuses and will be chaired by the House Leader for further legislative action.”