The Federal Government has said that 5000 nominees were submitted for consideration for national honours.
The Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, George Akume, made this known on Tuesday at the 2022 National Honours Award Investiture held at the International Conference Centre in Abuja.
According to Akume, 447 awardees were selected from the list of nominees submitted by the national honours awards committee to his office.
The minister asserted the nominees were drawn from various walks of life across the public and private sectors.
OsunDaily News reported that President Muhammadu Buhari conferred national honours on 447 Nigerians and friends of the country.
Among those at the event include Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, the President’s Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who was also an awardee.
The recipients were awarded the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (CFR) and Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
Others were awarded the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON), Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) and Federal Republic Medal (FRM).
The GCFR and GCON are customarily reserved and bestowed on former Presidents and Vice Presidents of Nigeria, including former military heads of state of Nigeria and Chiefs of General Staff.
The GCON is also customarily bestowed on the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) and the President of the Nigerian Senate during their first year in office, while the CON is customarily bestowed on Justices of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Those conferred with GCON are Senate President Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan; Chief Justice of the Federation (CJN), Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola; immediate past CJN, Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad (Rtd); former Minister of Finance and currently Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala; a former Minister of Environment and currently UN, Deputy Secretary General, Amina J. Mohammed, Formrand former President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), Prof. Tijani Muhammad-Bande.
Also honoured are Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker of the House of Representatives; Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege; SGF Mustapha; Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HoCSF), Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan; former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara; and former President of the Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami (Retd) among others.
The former Chief of Staff to the President, the late Abba Kyari, received a posthumous CFR award which was presented to his daughter.
Also, the former Chief of Army Staff, the late Attahiru Ibrahim, was also awarded a posthumous honour.
This article was originally published on OsunDaily News
