The former minister of education Oby Ezekwesili has challenged the Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas to prosecute her when the Counter Subversion Bill 2024 is passed
The Counter Subversion Bill 2024, TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) aims to impose stringent penalties on Nigerians who fail to recite the national anthem.
Currently at its second reading where its general principles will be debated, the bill, which is being sponsored by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, also proposes that anyone who destroys a national symbol or a place of worship shall be liable to the same punishment.
Reacting to the bill, Ezekwesili insisted she would continue to sing the ‘Arise O Compatriots’ version.
The former minister further accused the Speaker and members of the National Assembly of conspiring with President Bola Tinubu to pass the old national anthem “Nigeria We Hail Thee” into law.
Ezekwesili via her verified page on the microblogging platform, X on Wednesday said that the House is engaging in “irrelevancies while the country totters.”
She said, “I am certain that the Speaker of the @HouseNGR @Speaker_Abbas @nassnigeria knows this for a fact
“Surely, he must know that the so-called #CounterSubversionBill which he introduced- and alleged to be in its second reading – is a silly flight of fancy that further reveals how unserious and irrelevant the lawmakers are to the Nigerian condition.
“I for example have kept my public statement and only stand and sing the REAL Nigerian National Anthem (Arise O Compatriots), never the Colonial and ‘tribal’ one that he and his colleagues conspired with @NGRPresident and kangarooed into ‘law’ in violation of Constitutional processes.
“Get ready to ‘prosecute’ me when you pass your noxious #CounterSubversionBill into an Act.”
Ezekwesilli added, “But before then, please note that if there is any group of Nigerians that deserve a Subversion Act, it is you and your colleagues at the @nassnigeria who consistently subvert the progress of Nigeria and her people through your legendary public misdemeanors that accumulate into Bad Governance.”