President Bola Tinubu has conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on Tajudeen Abbas, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, addressing recent debates over his eligibility for higher honors.
This announcement was made by Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement released Friday night.
The decision follows a contentious exchange between the Senate and the House regarding Abbas’s recognition, which intensified after Tinubu initially awarded him the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) during his 64th Independence Anniversary Speech on October 1.
In response to calls from the House of Representatives for a higher honor, Onanuga noted that President Tinubu was persuaded to rectify what was described as a “historical error and oversight.” The upgrade to GCON is aligned with the National Order of Precedence.
The formal decoration ceremony for Abbas, along with other principal officers of the National Assembly and the Chief Justice of Nigeria, is expected to take place in the near future.
