Atiku faults judges for singing Tinubu’s campaign anthem, charges judiciary to uphold oath

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has charged members of the judiciary to uphold the oath they swore to protect while assuming office.

This comes as the former Vice President berated the judges for singing President Bola Tinubu’s personal political anthem, “On Your Mandate,” at a recent judges’ summit in Abuja.

He said, “On Monday, I was sent a video clip from Channels TV’s coverage of the opening session of the 2025 All Nigerian Judges Conference. What I saw was nothing short of an assault on our national dignity.

“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.”

Atiku Abubakar who was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, said “the incident is not isolated.”

He accused the Tinubu-led APC government of “consistently pursuing 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 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.

“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.

“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?” he asked.

He therefore charged the judges to defend the oath they swore to, rather than “standing on Tinubu’s mandate.”

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