President Bola Tinubu has conferred national honours on at least 1,062 individuals, Nigerians and foreign nationals, living and posthumous, in nearly three years in office, findings have shown.

The number of conferments exceeds the total awarded by his immediate predecessor, the late President Muhammadu Buhari, in his entire eight years, and is three times more than the conferment made by former President Goodluck Jonathan in his single major investiture of 2014.

Findings by our correspondent also show that the bulk of Tinubu’s honours were ratified on October 9, 2025, when the National Council of State, meeting at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja, approved the report of the National Honours Award Committee for 2024 and 2025.

The Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office, Dr Emanso Umobong, told State House correspondents after the meeting that the committee, reconstituted in August 2021 under the chairmanship of Justice Sidi Bage, had screened over 5,000 nominations and recommended 824 recipients for the regular 2024/2025 National Honours and 135 individuals for special presidential awards, a combined 959 honourees.

Aside from the 2025 batch, the President has, on his own volition, conferred additional honours throughout the period. These include fallen and serving members of the Armed Forces.

On February 13, 2024, President Tinubu honoured players and officials of the Nigerian Super Eagles with the Member of the Order of the Niger national awards for securing the silver medal at the 2023 Africa Nations Cup.

Tinubu, through the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr Nyesome Wike, also granted each team member a plot of land and a flat in the FCT.

On March 17, 2024, the President conferred varying national honours on 17 members of the Nigerian Army who were slain in Delta State on March 14, 2024.

He also announced the provision of housing facilities for the surviving family members and scholarships for all their children to university level, and the payment of death benefits to the family members within 90 days.

At the funeral of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Taoreed Lagbaja, on November 15, 2024, Tinubu conferred the posthumous national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic on Lagbaja.

On January 15, 2026, at the Armed Forces Remembrance Day Celebration, Brig Gen Musa Uba, killed in a November 2025 ISWAP ambush in Damboa, Borno State, was conferred a posthumous Gallantry Award.

Similar decorations have been extended to dozens of other officers who paid the supreme sacrifice in counter-insurgency operations across the North-East and North-West.

On June 12, 2025, at a joint session of the National Assembly to mark the 26th Democracy Day, he announced posthumous and living national honours on over 80 democracy heroes, including Nobel Laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka (GCON), the late Kudirat Abiola (CFR), former Chief of Staff to the Supreme Headquarters Shehu Musa Yar’Adua (GCFR), Prof Humphrey Nwosu (CON), Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Nine (OON each), Bishop Matthew Kukah (CON), Femi Falana, SAN (CON), and veteran journalist Sam Amuka-Pemu (CON).

Many of the honourees were also granted presidential pardons.

During a working visit to Kaduna State on June 19, 2025, Tinubu conferred the title of Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic on the former military governor of Kaduna State, Col Abubakar Dangiwa.

On the foreign scene, Tinubu has also honoured some world leaders.

On November 17 2024, he conferred the second-highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Tinubu made the announcement during a bilateral meeting with the Indian leader at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa.

The President stated that the honour was “to signify our appreciation of India as Nigeria’s partner.”

On June 4, 2025, the President conferred the national honour of the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic on the co-founder of Microsoft and chairman of the Bill Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, for his interventions in maternal health, agriculture and infectious disease research in Nigeria.

The most controversial of Tinubu’s awards came on January 8, 2026, when he awarded Lebanese-Nigerian businessman Gilbert Chagoury the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, Nigeria’s second-highest national honour, on Chagoury’s 80th birthday.

The award was made without a public ceremony or a statement from the Presidency, and only entered public view after billionaire Femi Otedola posted a copy of the certificate in a post on his X handle, congratulating him.

Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, later confirmed the conferment to The PUNCH, attributing it to Chagoury’s “various services to Nigeria, on the economic front, hospitality industry and so on.”

Under President Buhari, the only major investiture was held on October 11, 2022, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, at which 447 recipients were decorated.

They included Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, and United Nations Deputy Secretary-General, Ms Amina Mohammed (both GCON); Grammy-winning artist Burna Boy; and a posthumous CFR for the late Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.

Before that, Buhari had conferred no national honours in seven years.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan held the 2013/2014 combined investiture on September 29, 2014, decorating 304 recipients.

They included the service chiefs of the time, the designer of the Nigerian flag, Pa Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, an Abuja taxi driver who had returned N6m left in his cab by a passenger, and a “dancing traffic warden” who had become a social media sensation.

Earlier, in 2012, his administration had conferred honours on a smaller number of recipients, including six Supreme Court justices, the then Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar, and businessman Tony Elumelu.

In December 2008, the late President Umaru Yar’Adua conferred national honours on 278 persons, his only investiture during his nearly three years in office.

At the time, the late human rights lawyer, Gani Fawehinmi (SAN), declined the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic conferred on him, citing “many years of misrule since independence.”

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Head of Civil Service, Gidado Idris, also turned down the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic conferred on him.

Under former President Olusegun Obasanjo, at least 449 persons were also awarded national honours at two investitures in December 2004 (193 honourees) and September 2006 (256 honourees). He also conferred the honours on his successor, Yar’Adua and his deputy, Jonathan, in May 2007.

Within months of assuming office in 1999, Obasanjo set up a committee headed by Dr Christopher Kolade to review the 857-recipient honours list issued by the outgoing military Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar, in Gazette No. 75 of December 29, 1998.

Acting on the Kolade-led Committee report, Obasanjo cancelled the list, which included the late MKO Abiola, the late Aliyu Mohammed and the late Mustapha Umara.

The National Honours system was instituted by the National Honours Act of 1964 and is now governed by the Cap. N43 of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

It is administered by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, which receives nominations, processes them through the National Honours Award Committee, and forwards a screened list to the President for approval.

The two principal classes are the Order of the Federal Republic, comprising GCFR, CFR, OFR, MFR and Federal Republic Medal grades, and the Order of the Niger, comprising GCON, CON, OON, MON and similar grades.

The President is the sole conferring authority.

So far, at least 6,400 persons have been honoured since the system was inaugurated in 1963.

At the time of filing this report, the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, could not be reached for a reaction as calls and a text message sent to his mobile line went unanswered. (The PUNCH)

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