"He Sat for Another Anthem, Stood for Ours?" — Wike Calls Obi Lawless, Says He Must Never Near the Presidency

Hillary Michael · Politics · Nov 13, 2026

FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has launched a blistering attack on Peter Obi, accusing the NDC presidential candidate of sitting during Nigeria's national anthem but standing for an "alternative anthem"—a display of lawlessness that, in Wike's words, proves Obi does not believe in Nigeria.

The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Nyesom Wike, has accused Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), of demonstrating lawlessness and a deliberate intention to divide Nigeria by allegedly refusing to stand for the national anthem while rising for a different anthem. Wike made the remarks on Friday, November 13, 2026, at a stakeholders' town hall meeting in Ogu-Bolo Local Government Area of Rivers State, organised by the Rainbow Coalition to mobilise support for President Bola Tinubu's 2027 re-election bid and APC candidates.

Addressing traditional rulers, community leaders, youths, and party faithful, Wike framed the anthem incident as a disqualifying act for anyone seeking the presidency. "A whole national anthem of a country is being sung. A man who wants to be President of Nigeria would disobey and sit down. And then, not only that, when a different national anthem that is not being used for Nigeria was sung, he stood up," Wike said. He then delivered the line that will define the attack: "A man who does not believe in Nigeria, someone who derives joy in ridiculing the country by disrespecting its symbolic National Anthem must not be allowed to come near the presidency of our country".

Wike argued that Obi's conduct revealed a deeper truth about his political character. "In a way, he does not belong to this country. In a way, he has said he does not belong to this country; that if you give him the presidency, he would do a different thing that would divide Nigeria," he said.

But the anthem was only the opening salvo. Wike questioned Obi's political consistency, accusing the former Anambra governor of abandoning political parties whenever internal disagreements arose rather than staying to resolve them. He also pointed to Obi's eight-year tenure in Anambra, noting that local government elections were not conducted—a record Wike described as inconsistent with Obi's professed commitment to the rule of law. "Obi claims to believe in the rule of law, yet he failed to conduct local government elections throughout his eight years as Anambra governor. What then is his commitment to the rule of law?" Wike asked.

The FCT Minister extended his criticism to the broader opposition coalition involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi. He questioned their records in public office, particularly Amaechi's tenure as Minister of Transportation, citing what he described as the poor state of the nation's seaports. He also alleged that the previous Rivers administration demolished Government Secondary School, Ogu, without rebuilding it, and failed to fulfil a promise to construct a 1,000-bed specialist hospital.

Urging the people of Ogu-Bolo to look beyond what he called the opposition's "big grammar" on television, Wike maintained that the Tinubu administration had delivered tangible dividends of democracy to the area. He cited the construction of the Ogu-Bolo Civic Centre, facilitated through the federal appointment of an indigene, Boma Iyaye, as well as the conduct of local government elections. He called on the community to support Tinubu's re-election, Kingsley Chinda's governorship ambition in Rivers State, and all APC candidates contesting National Assembly seats.

The attack lands at a sensitive moment in Nigeria's political calendar. Obi has spent weeks crisscrossing the country, drawing massive crowds and facing violent disruptions—including the cutlass-wielding thug attack on his Lagos town hall just a day before Wike's remarks. By framing the anthem as a test of national belonging, Wike has shifted the conversation from Obi's crowd sizes to his character, and from policy to symbolism. Whether the charge of "lawlessness" sticks will depend on how Obi's camp responds—and whether Nigerians see a man who disrespects the anthem, or a man being painted into a corner by a ruling party that fears his momentum.