Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), and supporters of the party recited the old national anthem during a town hall meeting in Lagos on Thursday.
In a viral video from the event, Obi, alongside Funso Doherty, the NDC governorship candidate in Lagos, and their supporters, rejected the new anthem when asked to stand up for its recital.
This prompted the event anchor to switch to the old anthem, which the attendees recited with fervour.
To further demonstrate his approval of the move, Obi faced the crowd as they sang the old anthem, two fingers on both hands raised to form the NDC logo.
The development comes after proceedings at the event were initially disrupted by thugs who invaded the venue with cutlasses, cudgels and stones, forcing participants to scamper for safety.
Obi won Lagos, a stronghold of the All Progressives Congress (APC), with 582,354 votes in the 2023 presidential contest.
He was at the time, standard-bearer of the Labour Party (LP).
On May 29, 2024, President Bola Tinubu signed into law a bill reintroducing the old national anthem following its speedy passage by the national assembly.
The old national anthem, titled ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee’, was in use from independence in 1960 until 1978, when it was replaced by ‘Arise, O Compatriots’.
