…as lawmakers reject CFR honours on Speaker Abbas
By Gloria Ikibah
The 10th House of Representatives has protested the decision by President Bola Tinubu’s decision to confer a national honour – Commander of Federal Republic (CFR) on Speaker Tajudeen Abbas during his Independence Day national broadcast on October 1, 2024.
The House also urged President Tinubu to confer on the office of the Speaker, the National honour of “Grand Commander Of the Order of the Niger” (GCON) insisting that the office of the Speaker is higher than that of the Chief Justice of Nigeria who is to be conferred with GCON .
This resolution was sequel to the adoption of a motion by the Deputy Spokesperson of the House, Rep. Philip Agbese and 248 others on the “Multi-partisan motion on the inappropriate discrimination against the House of Representatives and the presentation of the chamber as inferior to the Senate”, on Wednesday at plenary.
In his lead debate, Rep. Agbese, explained that the National Assembly is constitutionally established as a bicameral legislature comprising two equal chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives, as stipulated in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), with both chambers operating within a framework that ensures the legislative independence and equality of each.
The expressed displeasure at the development, as he argued that the “National Honours Act of 1964 does not explicitly prescribe the conferment of specific honours, such as the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) for the President of the Senate or the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and that these distinctions are rooted in customary practice rather than statutory requirement.
“Worried by the growing trend where the President of the Senate is referred to as the “Chairman of the National Assembly,” which inaccurately implies a hierarchical structure between the two chambers, contrary to the Constitution, and undermines the authority of the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Neither the institution nor the Standing Orders of both chambers recognise the position of a Chairman of the National Assembly, his title has no legal basis and undermines.
“This discriminatory practice was once again evidenced during the recent conferment of National Honours on the leadership of the National Assembly by Mr. President. While expressing our gratitude to Mr. President for recognising and honouring the leadership of the National Assembly, we note that the conferment of the title of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on the President of the Senate and the conferment of the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker of the House of Representatives and Deputy President of the Senate perpetuates the inappropriate subordination of the Speaker to the President of the Senate.
“Notes that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is lower in protocol ranking than the Speaker of the House of Representatives, was also awarded the title of GCON, further exemplifying this culture of discrimination against the leadership of the House;
“The Constitution, in promoting a balanced and equal bicameral legislature, clearly provides that bills passed by one chamber must be concurred with by the other in the same form for them to become law, thus affirming the equal status of both chambers as essential components of the legislative process”, the motion reads.
Also speaking on the motion, Sada Soli insisted that the Speaker is the fourth citizen so should be honored with GCON instead of CFR.
He also questioned why the Chief Justice of Nigeria will be honored with GCON while the Speaker, CFR,.stating that it is a mismatch.
“We know the President is a listening President. We know the President is not shy. He does not shy away from going back to correcting the problem. Mr Speaker, the House of Representatives should holds the honour of GCON”, he said.
On his part, Babajimi Benson (APC -Lagos) said that the move was an injustice to the institution of the House of Representatives, adding that though it has been going on for too long, it remains an institutional error.
“The House further note that the honour of GCON is not restricted to any particular office or individual but can be awarded to any distinguished Nigerian deemed deserving by the President, as evidenced by the recent conferment of GCON on Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala by former President Muhammadu Buhari, this House acknowledges the flexibility inherent in the National Honours system and the prerogative of the President in the allocation of such distinctions”.
In his remarks, Minority Whip, Hon. George Ozodinobi said: “I wouldn’t be talking from the standpoint of opposition. But I am indeed saddened that each regime that comes, they keep on repeating what their predecessors did. I think something that is very constant, they say, is change.
“I wouldn’t want to say that the president is a listening president. There are indications to show that he is not. But I am thinking that what he has already pronounced needs to be changed before it is confirmed.
“Because we can’t continue to be repeating the mistakes of the past. So he has every opportunity to respect the 360 members of this House who have also fought so hard to bear the responsibility of certain policies of this Government. We are the people that have already tried to calm the entire country down with our number.
“We need to be respected in that form. As other people argued, we are not talking for the person who is sitting as the Speaker. We are talking for the institution”, he said.
Rep. Dominic Okafor strongly opined citing the provision of Section 47 of the 1999 constitution, said: “I want to read out now, which states that there shall be a National Assembly for the Federation, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. He never said that one is superior to the other.”
Minority Whip of the House, Rep. Ali Issa, said that section 4 of the Nigerian constitution clearly stated the creations of the National Assembly, and clearly specified that the National Assembly is comprised of 109-member Senate and 360-member House of Representatives.
“So, the section of the constitution did not give any other chamber or did not mention that a chamber is higher than any other chamber.
“Mr. Speaker, my honorable colleagues, the present Minister of Special Duties is a former member of the House of Representatives, and I believe in his time he will not allow this mistake to continue. While I advise our relevant committees to invite the Honorable Minister of Special Duties and ensure that this amendment or this correction is done, and also they have to report back to this House within seven days, I move that with immediate effect we mandate the relevant committee to invite the Minister of Special Duties with all the relevant committee members that are in charge of this award, and also they should make the necessary corrections with immediate effect. The issue is about the House of Representatives.
“It is not about Mr. Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, but it is about the House of Representatives. Putting the House of Representatives Speaker, the same with the Deputy Senate President position, would not be acceptable by this House chamber. So I call on Mr. President and all the relevant leaders to quickly intervene and make these corrections.”
In his intervention, Hon. Cyril Godwin argued that the National Honours Act of 1963, Section 1, Subsection 3 stated that: “Subject to Article 2 of this warrant, the numbers of persons appointed to the different ranks of the orders in any calendar year shall not exceed 8. In the case of Grand Commander, which is what is in contest here, in the case of Grand Commander, 2 as respect to the Order of the Federal Republic and 10 as respect to the Order of Niger.
“What it simply means is that for GCON, for every calendar year, it shall not exceed 2 in line with the National Honours Act. So if the Senate President has been given 1, it therefore means we are going to ask in our resolution as well, that the CJN shall relinquish his own for the Speaker, not necessarily Tadu Jinn, but for any Speaker of the House of Representatives, until we amend this Act. You cannot exceed 2 in line with this Act.
“In terms of the number, we are raising our issues in terms of criteria. It has nothing to do with the Act.
“If this is what is stated in the Act, it is for the people who are doing that to consider. And the Order of Protocol that we are referring to was approved by both chambers to place us to where Mr. Speaker is. And so if you are asking, and if you are doing, just like it is automatic for Mr. President, the moment he assumes duty as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Vice President they have, it is automatic.
“It is not also out of order to have the Speaker and the Senate President in the other category automatically. Please, my brother, I think it is time for us to respect the institution to do the right thing that will promote us and give us our placement in the community. Thank you very much.”
While speaking, Majority Leader, Hon. Julius Ihonbvere who doubles as Head of Government Business in the House, said: “Ordinarily, I should be speaking to defend the government. But I also have a responsibility and duty to correct the government when it is doing something that is not right. Fortunately, we have a government that listens and a President that listens.
“I want to especially appreciate my colleagues. Without party restriction or consideration or any consideration whatsoever, I have unanimously agreed that there are several amendments we need to make both in the Constitution and in the Honours Act in order to correct historical injustices and administrative miscarriage of responsibilities. It is clear that we are not just talking about the current occupants of these positions.
“No. We are talking about putting things in the right perspective. And what is good for the goat is also good for the ram. I used that because my people understand that better than goose and gander. Mr Speaker, even when you look at it that the Speaker of the House gets the same honour as the Deputy Speaker of the Senate, there is a miscarriage there. They are not on the same level.
“In fact, the honour given to the Deputy Senate President is higher than that of the Deputy Speaker. So if we are going to deal with it holistically, the Senate President and the Speaker should have exactly the same thing. And the Deputy Senate President and the Deputy Speaker of the House should have the same.
“And we should amend the motion to say we are calling on the government not to just take the light and pride of correcting this error now, but to go back into the past and also correct it to other Senate Presidents, Speakers, and Deputy Speakers and Deputy Senate Presidents so that we can at least set a path of fair play, of social justice, of fairness to one another, and give honour to whom it is due.
“Finally, Mr Speaker, because I know the media will say look at them, instead of talking about food, instead of talking about strike, instead of talking about roads, we are not talking about titles for ourselves. Some of us, and many of us already have enough titles.
“We are talking about the respect for the institution. We are here for four years, we don’t know who will be here tomorrow. We want to receive the real message and talk about other issues.
“So, I want to appeal that the issues here, they have to do with history, with tradition, with correcting past injustices and miscarriage of recognition and constitutional order of things. Mr Speaker, I believe it is not too late to do this. We have a job to do to build consolidate and enshrine the equality of both houses. Very clearly, but we also have a job to do to assist the government to do the right thing when they need to do the right thing.”
The House unanimously adopted the motion and resolved to call attention to the ongoing discriminatory practice of referring to the Senate as the “upper chamber” and the House of Representatives as the “lower chamber,” as well as portraying the Speaker as subordinate to the President of the Senate. Such references undermine the equal status of both chambers as established by the Constitution and diminish the standing of the House of Representatives in the legislative process.
Affirm that the House of Representatives is an independent and equal chamber of the National Assembly, and the Speaker is a co-head of the legislative arm of government alongside the President of the Senate. (Power of the purse)
Recognise the Speaker of the House of Representatives as co-chairman of the National Assembly in all respects, and request that all references to the leadership of the National Assembly reflect this equality.
The House also resolved to call on all government institutions, officials, and the media to take cognisance of language and titles that suggest a hierarchical structure between the Senate and the House of Representatives or their respective leaders.
The House constituted an ad-hoc committe to liaise with the Presidency and propose amendments to the National Honours Act of 1964 to appropriately recognise the Speaker of the House of Representatives as co-head of the National Assembly and, accordingly, confer the national honour of GCON upon the Speaker, ensuring parity in recognition with the President of the Senate. This should be accomplished before the formal decoration by Mr. President.
The House urged rge Mr. President to uphold the spirit of bicameral equality as enshrined in the Constitution when making decisions and recommendations that concern the leadership of the National Assembly.
The House also directed the Clerk of the National Assembly to ensure that all communications, orders, and publications from the National Assembly henceforth refer to both the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate as co-heads of the National Assembly.