The Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP), a Civil Society Organisation , says it will sue President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over the recently signed National Anthem Act, 2024.
Tinubu signed, on May 29, the legislation that returned the old national anthem themed ‘Nigeria, we hail thee’.
Reacting in a Friday statement, Tonye Jaja, ALDRAP’s secretary, said the enactment of the National Anthem Act did not comply with the necessary constitutional requirements.
The statement read: “No public hearing was held before the said legislation was enacted as required under Section 60 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution.
“Members of the public were not invited to make their contributions, as was done when the other national anthem was enacted in the year 1978.
READ ALSO: Reintroducing Old National Anthem Is Priority — Tinubu
“There was no letter of transmission of the said bill from the president to the president of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives.
“The expenditures associated with the National Anthem Act, 2024 (which was done on May 29, 2024, and on other dates) are not captured in the Budget of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Act, 2024 (as can be attested to by the accountant-general of the federation), and therefore the said National Anthem Act, 2024, should be declared illegal.”
The organisation also noted that the financial burden of implementing the new national anthem would include costs such as man-hours, updating official documents, and other related expenses.
The group argued that these costs would be too high for ordinary citizens to bear, especially without a corresponding increase in income.
Asides Tinubu, others to be joined as respondents in the case include Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas.
