Lagos State governorship candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Funso Doherty, has explained that the singing of Nigeria’s former national anthem at the party’s town hall meeting in Lagos was a spontaneous decision by attendees.

Doherty made the clarification during an interview on Nigeria Info 99.3FM on Friday, following public criticism of the incident involving the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and other participants.

He explained that the event organisers did not plan the switch to the former anthem, saying the reaction came from members of the audience and was difficult to control in the atmosphere surrounding the gathering.

Doherty also maintained that the current national anthem was eventually sung after the crowd had recited the former version.

“If you watched that show, you will see that the new national anthem was actually sung after that initial singing of the old national anthem, and what happened was it was a spontaneous thing by the crowd,” he said.

He stressed that Nigeria had only one officially recognised national anthem, adding that the current version was ultimately performed at the event.

The controversy followed Thursday’s NDC town hall meeting in Lagos, where Obi, Doherty and other attendees did not stand when invited to sing the current anthem, Nigeria, We Hail Thee.

The event anchor subsequently switched to the former anthem, Arise, O Compatriots, prompting Obi, Doherty and other supporters to stand and sing along.

The incident attracted criticism from Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, who accused Obi of disrespecting Nigeria’s national symbols.

Wike argued that Obi’s decision not to stand for the current anthem but participate in singing the former version raised questions about his commitment to the country.

Nigeria’s Ambassador to Mexico, Reno Omokri, also criticised the incident, describing the national anthem, Constitution and national football team as symbols that unite citizens beyond political affiliations.

President Bola Tinubu signed the National Anthem Bill into law on May 29, 2024, restoring Nigeria, We Hail Thee, which was first adopted at independence in 1960. It replaced Arise, O Compatriots, which had been in use since 1978.