Replacing National Anthem With Tinubu’s ‘On Your Mandate’ Reckless, Disgraceful – Atiku

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has criticised the Bola Tinubu administration after a video emerged showing the President’s campaign song, “On Your Mandate,” played at the opening session of the 2025 All Nigerian Judges Conference.

The video, broadcast by Channels Television, captured the partisan song being played at the end of a speech delivered by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun – a development Atiku described as a shocking breach of protocol and an insult to national values.

Atiku said he initially doubted the authenticity of the clip explaining, “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. Silence. Total, deafening silence.”

The former Vice President said the incident was not accidental, alleging a pattern of institutional capture by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

He pointed out that, “This incident is not isolated. 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.”

Atiku also referenced Tinubu’s own remarks to the judiciary during the event, accusing the president of hypocrisy.

“Ironically, on the same day, President Tinubu stood before Nigerian judges and sermonized about safeguarding integrity and upholding the sanctity of their profession,” he stated.

“He stressed that ‘confidence is the lifeblood of justice,’ and that public perception must be fiercely protected to sustain our democracy.”

He added that the government’s action directly contradicted Tinubu’s message. “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,” he said.

Atiku insisted that substituting the national anthem with a political jingle in a hall filled with judges was a clear attempt to politicise the judiciary.

“Let it be said clearly and without hesitation: Replacing the National Anthem with Tinubu’s ‘On Your Mandate’ in a hall full of judges is reckless, scandalous, disgraceful, and deeply irresponsible,” he said.

“It is the most blatant signal yet that this government is attempting to drag the judiciary into the partisan gutters of the APC, if not coerce a wholesale ‘defection’ of Nigerian judges into political alignment.”

The former Vice President questioned the impact of such actions on judicial independence.
“How can confidence be built when the executive arm openly inserts partisan propaganda into a solemn judicial gathering?” he asked.

“How can judges dispense justice fearlessly when Tinubu’s operatives are busy eroding the boundaries between state, party, and personal ambition?”

Atiku stressed that the judiciary’s loyalty must remain to the Constitution – not to any individual or political party.

“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,” he said.

“This affront must be condemned by all who still believe in constitutional democracy,” Atiku said.