The House of Representatives has rejected the conferment of the honour of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) on Speaker Tajudeen Abbas by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, News About Nigeria reports.
It described the conferment as a discrimination against the Green Chamber in a motion of urgent public importance during Wednesday’s plenary session, moved by the Deputy Spokesman of the House, Philip Agbese, and sponsored by all 360 lawmakers.
This comes after President Bola Tinubu conferred national honours on the leadership of the National Assembly on Tuesday during a broadcast to celebrate Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day anniversary in Abuja.
The President conferred 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 gave the conferment of the CFR to Abbas.
Reacting to this, the House of Representatives said that both chambers of the National Assembly are equal and the Green Chamber should not even be referred to as a lower chamber.
They lamented that the GCON honour was conferred on the CJN, who ranks 5th and is lower in rank than the speaker, who ranks 4th.
They expressed dissatisfaction with the conferment and urged the President to correct the error.
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 Commander of the Order of Niger (CON) to the Deputy Speaker of the House, Benjamin Kalu.
