THIS DAWN — Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and human rights advocate, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, have sharply 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.
They described the incident as a grave breach of judicial neutrality and a dangerous politicisation of the nation’s justice system.
The controversy erupted after Channels Television aired footage showing the partisan song being played at the conclusion of a speech delivered by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun.
Atiku, who reacted in a lengthy public statement, said he initially dismissed the clip as a deepfake until multiple confirmations established that the event indeed occurred.
“What I saw was nothing short of an assault on our national dignity,” Atiku said.
He noted that the anthem was played “in place of the National Anthem.”
He lamented the lack of explanation from both the Presidency and the CJN, describing their silence as “deafening.”
Pattern of institutional subversion
Atiku linked the incident to what he views as a broader pattern of institutional subversion under the Tinubu administration.
According to him, the government has been “systematically capturing state institutions,” silencing dissent, and nudging the country toward “a de facto one-party state.”
He noted the irony of the episode occurring on the same day Tinubu admonished judges about integrity, judicial confidence, and public trust.
“Yet, while preaching morality, his administration allowed — or engineered — the playing of his own partisan campaign music before the entire Nigerian judiciary,” Atiku stated.
He called it “reckless, scandalous, disgraceful, and deeply irresponsible.”
He warned that such actions undermine judicial independence and risk coercing judges into political alignment.
“Judges swore an oath to defend the Constitution, not to stand ‘on the mandate’ of Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he stressed.
Odinkalu doubted the report initially
Supporting Atiku’s position, Prof. Odinkalu said he, too, initially doubted the report until he watched the event unfold.
“The CJN spent her speech preaching about judicial independence. After she was done, the judges did ‘On Your Mandate We Shall Stand,’” Odinkalu wrote.
The former Chairman of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) quipped that history would record November 17, 2025, as the day Nigeria’s most senior judges, “led by CJN Kekere-Ekun, officially decamped to the APC.”
Both Atiku and Odinkalu called for nationwide condemnation of the incident.
They warned that politicising the judiciary poses a grave threat to Nigeria’s democratic stability and constitutional order.
