Nigeria’s judiciary is facing one of its most bruising public relations crises in recent years after a viral video captured senior judges, including justices of the Supreme Court, rising to sing “On Your Mandate We Shall Stand” during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s address at the 2025 All Nigerian Judges Conference in Abuja. The moment, which drew applause inside the hall, has since ignited outrage outside it — and placed the judiciary’s independence under renewed scrutiny.
The firestorm began when renowned legal scholar and former National Human Rights Commission chairman, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, posted his reaction on X, describing the scene as “the moment… when Nigeria’s senior-most judges, led by CJN Kekere-Ekun, officially decamped to APC.” The accusation — sharp, provocative, and coming from one of the country’s most respected legal voices — spread instantly.
The conference, held at the National Judicial Institute and attended by more than 1,000 judges from across Nigeria, had opened on a serious note. President Tinubu urged judicial officers to resist corruption, insisting that “justice for sale” undermines democracy. Minutes earlier, Chief Justice Kudirat Motonmori Olatokunbo Kekere-Ekun had delivered a sober 20-minute speech stressing that “the judiciary remains the bulwark of democracy” and that “no amount of reform can succeed if integrity is compromised.”
But the tone of institutional caution cracked almost immediately afterwards.
As Tinubu made his entrance, the hall erupted into the familiar chorus of the APC’s campaign anthem. Video footage shows rows of judges — clad in black robes — clapping, smiling, and singing the political tune that defined Tinubu’s 2023 bid. For critics, it was not just a song; it was symbolism. And symbolism carries weight.
Odinkalu’s reaction reflected that sentiment. He wrote that he initially dismissed the reports as rumour, only to be stunned by confirmation. In a follow-up post, he tied the episode to the darker realities facing the country. “On the day it broke that terrorists immolated a Nigerian General in Borno and abducted 25 female students in Kebbi, the C-in-C did not lower the flag. Rather he got judges to sing On Your Mandate. Tueh!” The post layered moral criticism on top of political concern — and it resonated.
Civil society figures quickly joined. Governance advocate Abdulherphyz wrote: “This isn’t whatever democracy is designed to be. Submitting all institutions to one individual is only going to lead to perilous places.” On Nairaland, a thread titled Nigeria Judges Are Now Singing ‘On Your Mandate’ While Standing attracted hundreds of comments, many lamenting that “the last hope” — the courts — appeared compromised.
Defenders of the event, including APC supporters, insist the anthem was nothing more than ceremonial excitement, arguing that similar songs feature at state functions. But critics point out that judges, unlike politicians, are bound by strict codes of neutrality. A campaign song — especially one tied to active election disputes and governance controversies — is not easily excused as “pageantry.”
The National Judicial Council has remained silent, though internal rumblings suggest the issue may be reviewed. Opposition voices, including elder statesman Bode George, have called the episode “a disheartening chant in a setting meant to symbolise democracy.”
Legal analysts are already predicting ripple effects. With high-stakes cases looming ahead of the 2027 elections, litigants may now cite the video as evidence of systemic bias, invoking Section 6 of the Constitution to challenge judicial objectivity.
For many Nigerians, the core question is simple but troubling:
If the judiciary is the last hope of the common man, what happens when the judges themselves are seen singing the anthem of a ruling party?
This single moment — a song, a smile, a standing ovation — has become a national conversation about the fragile balance between power, perception, and the institutions meant to stand above politics.