House of Reps rejects CFR award for Speaker

Members of the House of Representatives have turned down the National Honour conferred on Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, stating that President Bola Tinubu discriminated against them by giving Senate President Godswill Akpabio a higher honour.

Recall that on Tuesday, Tinubu announced the award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on Godswill Akpabio, President of the Senate, and Kudirat Kekere Ekun, Chief Justice of Nigeria, while Tajudeen Abbas, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Jibrin Barau, the Deputy Senate President got the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR).

After a motion moved by Philip Agbese on Wednesday, the House resolved that the Reps are not inferior to Senators, and therefore, both leaders should be treated equally.

The motion, signed by 360 members of the House, called for the abolition of the “upper chamber and lower chamber nomenclature”, stating that both chambers are equal.