The House of Representatives, yesterday, momentarily embarked on an ego trip as they questioned the decision by President Bola Tinubu to confer Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) on the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas.
While adopting a motion of urgent public importance jointly sponsored by Philip Agbese, and 235 others, the lawmakers insisted that Abbas deserves the Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) as the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
They called on Tinubu 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 green chamber 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 and the Senate President as co-heads of the National Assembly.
Frowning on the practice of referring to the Senate as the “upper chamber” and the House of Representatives as the “lower chamber,” they noted that the development erroneously portrayed the Speaker as subordinate to the Senate President.
According to the lawmakers, such references undermine the equal status of both chambers as established by the Constitution and diminish the standing of the House in the legislative process.
Noting that the House remains an independent and co-equal part of the National Assembly, they said “the Speaker is a co-head of the legislative arm of government” alongside the Senate President.
Agbese, while moving the motion, argued that the Senate and the House operate within a framework that ensures legislative independence and equality of each other as stipulated in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution.
The Benue-born lawmaker expressed concern that the Senate President was referred to as the “Chairman” of the National Assembly, which implied a hierarchical structure between the two chambers, contrary to the Constitution, and undermined the authority of the Speaker.
While expressing gratitude to Tinubu for recognising and honouring the leadership of the National Assembly, he noted that the conferment of GCON on Akpabio and CFR on Abbas and the Deputy Senate President perpetuated the inappropriate subordination of the Speaker to the Senate President.
He further cited the conferment of GCON to the CJN, adding that the development further exemplified discrimination against the leadership of the House.
Agbese added, “Note that the National Honours Act of 1964 does not explicitly prescribe the conferment of specific honours, such as GCON for the Senate President or CFR for the Speaker. These distinctions are rooted in customary practice rather than statutory requirements.
“Further note that the 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 in the national honours system and the prerogative of the President in the allocation of such distinctions.”
