President Bola Tinubu has conferred the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) on Gilbert Chagoury, the Lebanese-Nigerian businessman.
The GCON is Nigeria’s second-highest national honour, next to the Grand Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic (GCFR), reserved for presidents.
The honour was conveyed through an Instrument of Conferment of National Honour dated January 8, 2026.
Tinubu said he acted in exercise of the powers vested in him under section 1(4) of the National Honours Act, citing Chagoury’s “outstanding virtues” and services to the country as the basis for the award.
“In exercise of the powers vested in me under section 1(4) of the National Honours Act, I, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in recognition of your outstanding virtues and in appreciation of your services to our country, Nigeria, hereby award to you to have, and enjoy title, dignity and all the privileges of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON) given at Abuja under my Hand and the Public Seal of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the president said.
Chagoury was born in Nigeria to Lebanese immigrants. He co-founded the Chagoury Group in Lagos in 1971. The conglomerate owns construction, real estate, hotel, glass, and flour-milling businesses.
He is also a major funder of the Eko Atlantic project through South Energyx Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group.
The Lebanese-Nigerian had a close association with the late Sani Abacha, a former Nigerian military ruler in the 1990s, and his businesses reportedly flourished during that period.
In 2000, he was reportedly convicted by a Swiss court for laundering some of the funds Abacha looted from Nigeria.
Chagoury reportedly agreed to pay a fine of about one million Swiss francs (about $600,000 at the time) and returned $66 million to the Nigerian government.
He, however, denied knowing that the funds were stolen.
Hitech Construction Company Ltd, the firm handling the controversial Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway project, is a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group.
