Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has said the House of Representatives should have consulted wide before tampering with the National Anthem or pledge.
Sani said altering the National Anthem without wide consultation would be seen as an attempt to dissolve Nigeria.
Posting on X, the former lawmaker wrote: “Tempering with or Changing the National Anthem or National pledge of Nigeria should be done after wider public consultation and should be factored in the process of constitutional amendments.
“Or would be misinterpreted as a surreptitious attempt to dissolve the country by altering one of its most important pillars.”
On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed a bill to adopt the old National Anthem.
The bill, which was sponsored by the Majority Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, was passed amid opposition from some lawmakers.
It was debated for a second reading and rushed through a third reading amid a rowdy session.
Similarly, the Nigerian Senate held an executive/closed session on Thursday to deliberate on changing the national anthem.
Although the reason for the move has not been made public, the change is already attracting criticism from concerned Nigerians.
DAILY POST reports that the anthem was used from independence in 1960 until 1978, when the present anthem, “Arise, O Compatriots,” was adopted in 1978.