The civil society organization, Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP), plans to take legal action against President Bola Tinubu regarding the recently passed National Anthem Act 2024.
In a statement released on Friday, ALDRAP’s secretary, Tonye Jaja, asserted that the National Anthem Act did not comply with constitutional requirements.
The organization argues that the public was not sufficiently involved in the process, contrasting it with the enactment of the previous national anthem in 1978.
Additionally, ALDRAP cited procedural flaws, noting that the bill was not properly transmitted from the president to the Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives.
The statement partly 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.
“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.”
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