Nigeria’s old national anthem was briefly played during the opening formalities of the All Progressives Congress (APC) national caucus meeting held at the State House in Abuja on Thursday night.
President Bola Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house of representatives, were all present at the meeting hosted at the villa’s banquet hall.
The error occurred after the dignitaries were ushered into the hall, and the national anthem was to be rendered.
The band initially played the instrumental of the old anthem, “Arise O Compatriot”.
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The president and his party members stood in confusion for a couple of seconds before the musicians realised the error and switched to the reintroduced anthem, “Nigeria, we hail thee”, midway into the rendition.
APC National CAUCUS MEETING….
You have to respond the leadership acumen of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR @officialABAT. pic.twitter.com/4NDoXLTLZZ
Advertisement— Amb. Pst Okezie Atañi (@Onsogbu) December 19, 2025
On May 29, President Tinubu signed a bill that replaced the national anthem. He reintroduced ‘Nigeria, We Hail Thee,’ which was initially adopted from 1960 to 1988, while the version used from 1978 to early 2024 was titled ‘Arise, O Compatriots.’
The APC caucus meeting is the first session to be presided over by Nentawe Yilwatda, the national chairman of the APC.
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Governors Peter Mbah of Enugu, Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers, Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta, Umo Eno of Akwa Ibom, Agbu Kefas of Taraba, and Douye Diri of Bayelsa attended their first caucus meeting of the ruling party following their defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.
Other party leaders present include former Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, members of the national working committee, APC governors and principal officers of the national assembly.
