Atiku berates Tinubu for capturing state institutions, crushing opposition voices, steering Nigeria towards one party state

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has berated the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress, APC, government for consistently pursuing a systematic capture of state institutions, crushing opposition voices, and steering Nigeria toward a de facto one-party state.
Atiku said this in a statement on Thursday while reacting to a viral video at the opening session of the 2025 All Nigerian Judges Conference, during which “On Your Mandate,” President Tinubu’s personal political anthem, was brazenly played in place of the National Anthem at the end of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere Ekun’s speech.
He categorically declared that replacing the National Anthem with Tinubu’s “On Your Mandate” in a hall full of judges is reckless, scandalous, disgraceful, and deeply irresponsible.
“This affront must be condemned by all who still believe in constitutional democracy”, Atiku warned.
The former Vice President, while stating that the record is very clear, stressed that 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.
In the statement personally signed by him, the erstwhile presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 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: “On Your Mandate,” President Tinubu’s personal political anthem, was brazenly played in place of the National Anthem at the end of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun’s speech.
“My first instinct was to dismiss it as a deep fake. 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.
“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.
“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?
“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”, he maintained.