Fury as “On Your Mandate” Replaces National Anthem at Judges’ Conference — Atiku Accuses Tinubu Govt of “Dragging Judiciary Into Partisan Gutters”
By Passman Akpos
A political storm erupted on Monday after a Channels TV broadcast captured a startling moment during the opening session of the 2025 All Nigerian Judges Conference: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign anthem, “On Your Mandate”, was played in place of the National Anthem at the conclusion of an address by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, in a blistering statement Tuesday, described the incident as “an assault on our national dignity” and “a reckless desecration of judicial integrity.”
Atiku said he initially believed the video to be a deepfake, but once verified as authentic, he expected an immediate clarification from the Presidency or the CJN’s office. “Silence. Total, deafening silence,” he lamented.
According to him, the episode fits into what he calls a “systematic capture of state institutions” by the Tinubu-led APC administration—an agenda he warns is steering Nigeria toward a “de facto one-party state.”
The former vice president also highlighted what he described as a disturbing contradiction: President Tinubu used the same event to lecture judges on integrity, the sanctity of their profession, and the critical importance of public confidence in the judiciary.
“Yet,” Atiku said, “while preaching morality, his administration allowed—or engineered—the playing of his own partisan campaign music before the entire Nigerian judiciary. It is shocking, disgraceful, and deeply irresponsible.”
He argued that replacing the National Anthem at such a solemn gathering demonstrated a “brazen attempt to drag the judiciary into the partisan gutters of the APC” and possibly coerce political alignment within the courts.
“How can judges dispense justice fearlessly,” Atiku asked, “when partisan propaganda is inserted into their official gatherings? Nigerian judges swore an oath to defend the Constitution—not to stand ‘on the mandate’ of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.”
Calling for nationwide condemnation, Atiku warned that the integrity of the judiciary—and the survival of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy—depends on resisting attempts to blur the line between state and party. “Let the records be clear,” he declared. “This affront must not be normalized.”
