No evidence that Nigeria's budget minister said N814 billion was spent on changing the national anthem
IN SHORT: Nigeria has re-adopted its old national anthem, a move that has sparked public outrage. But we found no evidence to support the claim that the budget minister said the change cost N814 billion.
In 1978, Nigeria adopted Arise, O Compatriots as its national anthem, replacing Nigeria, We Hail Thee.
But in May 2024, the government of president Bola Tinubu reinstated the older anthem and abandoned Arise, O Compatriots.
The move sparked public outrage. Some Nigerians questioned whether the change was necessary, saying the government should focus on tackling the high inflation rate.
Some Facebook users are claiming that N814 billion (about US$547 million) has been spent on the re-adoption of the national anthem. They say the figure comes from the country's minister of budget and economic planning, Abubakar Bagudu.
One post dated 31 May 2024 reads: "BREAKING: We spent 814 billion for the New National Anthem - Minister of Budget, Bakudu."
The same claim has been posted on Facebook here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of the report.)
But did the minister say the country spent N814 billion to change the national anthem? We checked.
No evidence
If the Nigerian government had spent this large amount on changing the anthem, it would have made national headlines. We checked credible media houses for anything related to the claim and found nothing.
We searched the 2024 budget document and found that no amount was allocated to changing the national anthem.
The Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners is suing the government over the reintroduction of the old national anthem. The civil society organisation is accusing the government of, among other things, failing to include the cost of the new national anthem in the 2024 budget.
Africa Check's attempts to get the ministry to comment on the matter were unsuccessful. But we found no evidence that Bagudu said the re-adoption of the old national anthem cost N814 billion.
