By Goodluck Ikiebe
The Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, is set to confer the highest National Honours on the country’s “President-elect”, Bola Tinubu, and his vice, Kashim Shettima on 25th of May, 2023.
This is amidst the ongoing petitions against the declaration of Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The Peoples Democratic Party and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, and the Labour Party’s contender, Peter Obi, are among the key petitions at the ongoing presidential election tribunal.
The Honour, which was the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) and Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) will be conferred on both Shettima and Tinubu four days to their inauguration.
This was disclosed in a circular released by the country’s federal ministry of Information and Culture, which shows the list of activities that have been tabled for the inauguration program.
“Below is the Official Program of Events lined up for the #Presidentialinauguration2023 as presented by the Presidential Transition Council on Thursday, 18th May, 2023,” the ministry captioned the circular.
Meanwhile, Tolu Ogunlesi, Special Assistant to President Buhari on Digital and New Media, stated that Buhari would become the second elected President to bestow the GCFR on his successor, following former President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 27, 2007.
Ogunlesi also stated that during the investiture ceremony next week, there would be an official handover of transition documents to the incoming Administration, adding that this would be the most organised and seamless presidential transition in Nigerian history, made possible by President Buhari’s executive order 14.
