Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), on Thursday led party supporters in singing Nigeria’s former national anthem, ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’, during a town hall meeting in Lagos State.
The former Anambra State governor was joined by the party’s Lagos governorship candidate, Funso Doherty, and other NDC members during the recital.
According to reports, the event anchor had initially asked attendees to stand for the current national anthem. However, Obi, Doherty and some supporters declined to stand, prompting the anchor to switch to the former anthem, which they subsequently sang together.
A video of the incident, which has gone viral on social media, showed Obi facing the crowd with two fingers raised on both hands, a gesture associated with the NDC party logo, as supporters enthusiastically sang along.
The development comes amid renewed public debate over Nigeria’s national anthem following President Bola Tinubu’s decision to restore the old anthem in May 2024.
Tinubu signed the National Anthem Bill into law on May 29, 2024, reinstating ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’ as the country’s official anthem and replacing ‘Arise, O Compatriots’.
The former anthem was first adopted when Nigeria gained independence on October 1, 1960, and remained in use until 1978, when it was replaced.
Meanwhile, the town hall meeting had earlier been disrupted by suspected political thugs reportedly armed with cutlasses, cudgels and stones. The invasion forced several attendees to flee the venue for safety before proceedings could continue.
Obi had previously won Lagos State in the 2023 presidential election as the Labour Party candidate, polling 582,354 votes against Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, who secured 572,606 votes.
