Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, and supporters of the party on Thursday rejected Nigeria’s current national anthem and recited the country’s former anthem, ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’, during a town hall meeting in Lagos.
The development occurred when attendees at the event were asked to stand for the national anthem.
However, Obi, alongside the party’s Lagos State governorship candidate, Funso Doherty, and other supporters, declined to sing the current anthem, prompting the event anchor to switch to the old version.
A viral video of the incident showed the former Anambra State governor facing the crowd as they sang the old anthem, with two fingers raised on both hands to form the NDC logo.
The attendees also joined in the recital enthusiastically.
The incident came amid tensions at the town hall meeting, which was earlier disrupted by suspected thugs who reportedly invaded the venue with cutlasses, cudgels and stones.
The attack forced participants to flee for safety and disrupted proceedings.
Obi’s political significance in Lagos dates back to the 2023 presidential election, when he contested under the Labour Party and defeated candidates of the All Progressives Congress in the state, securing 582,354 votes.
Lagos is traditionally regarded as a stronghold of the APC, making his victory a significant political statement ahead of subsequent electoral contests.
The controversy surrounding the national anthem dates back to May 29, 2024, when President Bola Tinubu signed into law a bill reintroducing ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ as the country’s national anthem.
The legislation was passed by the National Assembly and restored the anthem that had been in use since Nigeria gained independence in 1960.
‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ was replaced in 1978 by ‘Arise, O Compatriots’, which remained the national anthem for 46 years before the Tinubu administration reinstated the earlier version.
The latest development at the Lagos meeting comes amid renewed political activity as parties begin positioning themselves ahead of the 2027 general elections.
