How Tinubu Became 16th Recipient Of GCFR Honour

The President-elect Bola Tinubu has promised not to disappoint the trust conferred upon him by President Muhammadu Buhari and millions of Nigerians.

He made this statement while presenting his acceptance speech after he was conferred with the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic, GCFR at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja today.

Tinubu said, “I understand the magnitude of the honour conferred on me today and the task ahead. Nigerians deserve no less. You (Buhari) have charted the course and I shall not disappoint you.”

The development comes after 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, amongst other things, proposed policy direction to the incoming administration. 

The conferment makes Tinubu the 16th person to hold the GCFR Honour. The ‘Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR) is the highest national honorary grant in the country exclusively conferred on presidents and former heads of state. 

Tinubu who was declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was conferred with this honour ahead of the 29th of May inaugural ceremony.

Names of those who received the GCFR honour before Tinubu

Influential figures who received the GCFR before Tinubu are Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Shehu Shagari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Ibrahim Babangida, Ernest Shonekan, Sani Abacha, Moshood Abiola, Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan.

Also, the British Monarch Queen Elizabeth II, South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and former Libyan Leader, Muammar Gaddafi have been conferred with this honour.

Furthermore, Buhari conferred vice president-elect Kashim Shettima with the honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger. The event is part of the activities lined up for the inauguration ceremony.