Should Nigeria’s President’s Portrait Be Placed Below That Of A State Governor?
Monday (Afor) 23-02-2026.
Governments, in the course of their numerous engagements and activities, observe strict protocols. In any Government function, be it Federal, State or Local Government, protocols determine even seating arrangements. It is always hierarchical.
There are three tiers of Government in Nigeria, and they are
(1) Federal
(2) State, and
(3) Local Government Councils. In any meeting involving the President of Nigeria, State Governors, and Local Government Council Chairmen, the President, by hierarchy, presides over such a meeting. It is a known settled matter of protocol.
In Government Offices and Banks, photographs of Nigeria’s President and Governor of the host State are hung according to protocol, with the President’s photo hung on the left of a horizontal line, followed by that of the State Governor. It is against protocol and sheer disrespect to the Office of the President to hang a State Governor’s photo on the left hand top besides Nigeria’s Coat of Arms, while hanging that of the President of Nigeria below to the right of the Governor’s photo by the side of the Coat of Arms.
There is an interior of a building purported on Social Media to be Aguiyi Ironsi Conference Centre at Umuahia on which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is unwarrantedly disparaged by placing his portrait below that of the Governor of the State.
Equity Global Reporters Ltd would like to draw the attention of Abia State Government to this arrangement that is, in every respect, despicable to Nigeria’s President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
The arrangement is more embarrassing when it is recalled that the State Government was alleged to have reluctantly managed to hang the President’s portrait in Government Offices when it came into Office in 2023.
Abia State Government is further advised not to be in the habit of creating an impression that it has pathological hatred and contempt for the Office of Mr President, which is the highest Office in Nigeria.
A President that has done much for Abia State deserves reciprocal respect, instead of allegedly being constantly treated with ignominy.
Sir Don Ubani is a former Commissioner for Information and Strategy in Abia State, and Publisher of Equity Global Reporters Ltd.
