Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has declared that replacing the National Anthem with President Bola Tinubu’s “On Your Mandate” in a hall full of judges, was reckless, scandalous, disgraceful, and deeply irresponsible.
He particularly said that it was the most blatant signal yet that the Tinubu-led government is attempting to drag the judiciary into the partisan gutters of the All Progressives Congress (APC), if not coerce a wholesale “defection” of Nigerian judges into political alignment.
Atiku in a statement he personally signed, said that the affront must be condemned by all who still believe in constitutional democracy.
He further said; “How can confidence be built when the executive arm openly inserts partisan propaganda into a solemn judicial gathering?
“How can judges dispense justice fearlessly when Tinubu’s operatives are busy eroding the boundaries between state, party, and personal ambition?”
The former Vice President said that he was sent a video clip from Channels TV’s coverage of the opening session of the 2025 All Nigerian Judges Conference and what he saw was nothing short of an assault on our national dignity: “On Your Mandate,” which is President Tinubu’s personal political anthem, that was brazenly played in place of the National Anthem at the end of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun’s speech.
In the words of Atiku; “My first instinct was to dismiss it as a deepfake. But once it was confirmed to be authentic—an actual reflection of what transpired on the very day President Tinubu lectured the judiciary on integrity and the rule of law, I waited for an explanation from the Presidency or the office of the CJN, but it was silence that was total, and deafening.
Atiku noted that the incident is not isolated, stressing that the Tinubu-led APC government has consistently pursued a systematic capture of state institutions, crushing opposition voices, and steering Nigeria toward a de facto one-party state.
“Ironically, on the same day, President Tinubu stood before Nigerian judges and sermonized about safeguarding integrity and upholding the sanctity of their profession.
“He stressed that “confidence is the lifeblood of justice,” and that public perception must be fiercely protected to sustain our democracy.
“Yet, while preaching morality, his administration allowed (or engineered) the playing of his own partisan campaign music before the entire Nigerian judiciary — a shocking desecration of protocol, ethics, and national pride.
“Let the records be clear: Nigerian judges swore an oath to defend the Constitution, justice, and the rule of law, not to stand “on the mandate” of Bola Ahmed Tinubu or any other individual,” Atiku said.
