The House of Representatives, in a stunning display of defiance on Wednesday rejected the Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) honor that was upon the House’s Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas by President Bola Tinubu during his Independence Anniversary speech.
The House of Representatives called upon President Tinubu to bestow upon the Speaker the higher national honor of “Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger” (GCON). The legislators insist that the Speaker’s position warrants a higher honor than the Chief Justice of Nigeria, who is set to receive the GCON.
The House’s demand for a higher honor for the Speaker was driven by a motion proposed by Philip Agbese, the deputy spokesperson for the House, which was endorsed by an overwhelming 248 majority of the members during a plenary session in Abuja.
In his motion, Agbese, the deputy spokesperson, highlighted the fact that the Constitution of Nigeria establishes the National Assembly as a bicameral legislature comprising two equal chambers, namely the Senate and the House of Representatives. This equal footing between the chambers, as enshrined in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), affirms the legislature’s structural independence and equal status, and demands that the Speaker of the House be accorded a national honor that befits the dignity and prestige of the position.
Agbese sounded alarm over the persistent and egregious trend of diminishing the importance and dignity of the House of Representatives through a demeaning classification system, which labels it as the “lower chamber” in comparison to the “upper chamber” of the Senate.
In his statement, “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 recognize 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 recognizing 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.”
