Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has condemned the playing of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s campaign anthem, “On Your Mandate,” during the opening session of the 2025 All Nigerian Judges Conference, describing it as “an assault on Nigeria’s national dignity and a dangerous intrusion of partisan politics into the judiciary.”
Atiku, in a statement on Monday, said he was alarmed after watching a Channels Television video showing the partisan anthem being played in place of the National Anthem at the conclusion of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun’s speech.
He said his first reaction was disbelief, assuming the footage might be manipulated, but upon confirmation that it reflected what actually transpired, he expected a swift explanation from the Presidency or the Office of the CJN. “Instead,” he lamented, “there has been total and deafening silence.”
Atiku said the incident was not an isolated mistake but “part of a consistent pattern under the Tinubu-led APC government to capture state institutions, suppress opposition, and steer Nigeria toward a de facto one-party state.”
He criticised the irony of the situation, noting that the President had, on the same day, lectured Nigerian judges on integrity, discipline, and the need to protect public confidence in the justice system.
“At a solemn gathering of judges, this administration allowed—or orchestrated—the substitution of our National Anthem with a partisan political chant,” Atiku said. “This is reckless, scandalous, disgraceful, and utterly irresponsible.”
He warned that the partisan music played before the nation’s top judicial officers was a clear attempt to “drag the judiciary into the political gutters of the APC,” and to intimidate or influence judicial independence.
“How can public confidence be sustained when the executive arm openly inserts partisan propaganda into a judicial event?” he asked. “Judges swore an oath to defend the Constitution and the rule of law, not to stand ‘on the mandate’ of Bola Ahmed Tinubu or any other individual.”
Atiku called on Nigerians, civil society, and the international community to condemn what he described as a dangerous erosion of democratic norms.
“This affront to our national values must not be ignored,” he said. “All who believe in constitutional democracy must speak out. The judiciary must remain independent—and must be seen to be independent—if Nigeria is to remain a democracy.”