Deputy spokesman of the House of Representatives, Philip Agbese, has applauded President Bola Tinubu for heeding the House's call to elevate the national honour of Speaker Tajudeen Abbas from Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) to the prestigious Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).
The decision was announced by Tinubu during his nationwide broadcast to commemorate Nigeria’s 64th Independence anniversary, where prominent political figures, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau, and Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu, were also conferred with national honours.
During a plenary session, Agbese took the floor through a motion of urgent public importance, drawing attention to what he described as a “discriminatory” treatment toward Speaker Abbas. He emphasized that while Abbas, who ranks fourth in the national order of protocol, was awarded a CFR, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, ranked fifth, received the higher honour of GCON.
Agbese argued that the House of Representatives is not inferior to the Senate, and lawmakers from various political parties rallied behind him, appealing to President Tinubu to rectify the oversight in line with historical precedent.
Their request was swiftly addressed when, on Friday, the President, through a statement signed by his media aide Bayo Onanuga, announced that Speaker Abbas had been elevated to GCON status. The decision has been widely praised by members of the House, further solidifying Tinubu’s commitment to fairness in recognizing the contributions of Nigeria’s top lawmakers.