They argued that the move will create more problems in the polity . Belgore and the leadership of the NBA spoke at a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives on a bill seeking amendment of the National Honours Act .
One of the bills seeks to subject the confirmation of any award on the National Assembly as well as powers to revoke the award due to misconduct on the part of the awardee.
The bill also seeks to prohibit serving public officers, elected or appointed from being conferred with the award while it also seeks to increase the fine payable upon conviction from N100 to N1m.
Belgore who is currently the Chairman of the National Award Honours Committee faulted the idea of excluding serving public office holders from been recognized with the award, as proposed by the amendment.
He appealed to the lawmakers to discard the idea of wanting to strip the President of the powers to award the National Honours on those he deemed fit.
He said “It is not done anywhere in the world, it is the exclusive of the President and not the National Assembly. I don’t think this amendment is necessary because everywhere in the world, it is the prerogative of the President to preside over this award”.
He also disagreed with the exclusion of serving public officers from receiving the award, saying, “Why not? The award is meant to recognize those that are deserving and if those serving merit it, they should so be recognized.”
“It is for recognition and being so recognized would serve and as impetus for others to want to contribute their own quota to nation building.
In its presentation The NBA agreed with the former CJN on the two issues and submitted that limiting the number of awardees to 100 would not be fair on deserving Nigerians.
The body canvassed that the current 450 limit should be left open.
On its part part, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC) agreed with the amendment that the powers to confirm the award should reside with the National Assembly.
Besides, the group noted that the integrity of the award might have been responsible for the rejection of the award in the past by some prominent Nigerians due to the questionable character of some of the recipients.
Moreover, the group pointed out that the manner of selection suggested that those in charge of the award have a mind set on who to give the award to, adding that deserving Nigerians at the grassroots have never seem to matter to the selection team.
Speaker of the House Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, while declaring open the hearing said theexercise was in line with the responsibilities of the House to look critically into all issues of national importance.
Deputy Chairman of the Committee, earlier in his remarks said the amendment were looked at dispassionately, “And arrive at conclusions so that the National Honours Award symbolizes our country’s values and integrity.
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