Tinubu promises not to disappoint as he receives Nigeria's highest national honour the GCFR

PRESIDENT-elect Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has promised Nigerians that he will not disappoint them as he understands the magnitude of the honour conferred upon him and will seek to live up to the lofty expectations.

 

Next Monday on May 27, Asiwaju Tinubu and his deputy Senator Kashim Shettima will be sworn-in at an inauguration event to take place in Abuja. As part of the week-long ceremonies, outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari conferred both men with national honours today, with Asiwaju Tinubu receiving Nigeria's greatest honour the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR).

 

Asiwaju Tinubu said: “I understand the magnitude of the honour conferred on me today and the task ahead. Nigerians deserve no less. Buhari has charted the course and I shall not disappoint you.”

 

Today's conferment makes Asiwaju Tinubu only the 16th person to hold the GCFR honour. Those before him include Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ibrahim Babangida, Ernest Shonekan, Sani Abacha, Moshood Abiola, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

 

Foreigners who have been conferred with the GCFR title include British monarch Queen Elizabeth II, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. It is likely that President Buhari himself will be conferred with the title once the new administration assumes office.

 

President Buhari also conferred vice president-elect Kashim Shettima. with the honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger. Earlier, President Buhari handed three key transition documents to the president-elect in line with Executive Order 14, mandating the transition council to issue handover notes containing, among other things, proposed policy direction to the incoming administration.

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