The House of Representatives Wednesday objected to the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to confer the National Honours award of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) on Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, same title bestowed on Deputy Senate President Jibrin Barau.
The lawmakers also called on President Tinubu to reverse the decision and confer Abbas with the national honour of “Grand Commander Of the Order of the Niger” (GCON).
According to them, the office of the Speaker is higher than that of the Chief Justice of Nigeria who is to be conferred with GCON.
0
This followed the adoption of a motion moved by the deputy spokesperson of the House, Philip Agbese with 248 others during plenary in Abuja.
The President had during his 64th Independence Anniversary’s nationwide broadcast,Tuesday, announced the awards, as he also conferred the National Honours Awards of GCON on the duo of Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
Debating the motion presented under matters of urgent public importance by Agbese, members expressed displeasure, saying the Speaker should be awarded the same honour with the Senate President.
Moving the motion, Agbese explained that the National Assembly was constitutionally established as a bicameral legislature with two equal chambers namely the Senate and the House of Representatives.
This, he said, is clearly stipulated in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), with both chambers operating within a framework of legislative independence and putting the same on equal footing.
The lawmaker regretted the idea of labelling the Senate the “upper chamber” and the House of Representatives as “lower chamber.”
…The motion proper
Moving the motion, the lawmaker said: “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.”
…Contributions
In his intervention, Sada Soli said the Speaker is the fourth citizen and should be honoured with GCON instead of CFR.
He also questioned the rationale behind having CJN honoured with GCON and the Speaker, CFR.
“We know the President is a listening President. He does not shy away from going back to correcting the problem. Mr. Speaker, the House of Representatives should hold the honour of GCON,” he said.
On his part, Babajimi Benson (APC-Lagos) described the move as an injustice to the institution of the Green Chamber, noting that it’s an institutional error that had been on for a very long time, and should be corrected.
“This motion cannot be overturned at any time. And I thank the 360 members who also support this motion for putting democracy right. Injustice to one is injustice to all. This injustice has been going on for too long. It is not something that has happened only in this administration. But it is an institutional error.
“Mr Speaker, I want to remind members that when this administration is being created, Mr Speaker comes as number four before the CJN of Nigeria. But how come the CJN of Nigeria gets the GCON honour and the Speaker gets the CFR honour? Again, when I go to comparative analysis, the system of government of the United States of America. Mr Speaker, in the national session in America, if something happens to the President and the Vice President together, members, guess who is in line to be the President of America. It is not the Senate President, neither is it the leader of the Senate. When you have a President of America, it is the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“So, I urge members to please participate socially, and at least that way. they are allowed to now be investigated by the executive. And I am sure they will come to the conclusion that something has gone wrong somewhere. So, I thank you all members, and I pray that this motion is passed on to the Speaker of the House,” Benson.
Several members also spoke in support of the motion, after which the Speaker resolved to set up an Ad hoc committee, headed by the Majority Leader, and all zonal caucuses leaders and regional leaders of Southern and Northern causes as members, with a mandate to look at all the issues and guide the House through their report, within the next three days.
…Resolutions
And in their resolutions, the House called 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.
According to them, 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.
They further resolve to “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.
“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.
“Mandate the relevant House Committees 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.
“Urge 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.
“Direct 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.”