The National Assembly stood at orderly attention last Wednesday as the band played Bola Tinubu’s “On Your Mandate,” a political song that has long encapsulated the president’s political aspirations, an action that experts have condemned.

The anthem, which the president’s supporters often use to receive him, was sung immediately after the national anthem as Mr Tinubu, National Assembly principal officers, and members from both branches of government stood. 

Experts told Peoples Gazette that the scene was undoubtedly unsettling as it was reminiscent of a cultish oath-pledging ritual to Mr Tinubu’s political machinations rather than a formal intergovernmental gathering convened to discuss a sacred business of the nation.

They contended that by playing “On Your Mandate” during a session, the National Assembly seemingly offered a public endorsement of Mr Tinubu’s political agenda and that the expression of allegiance could signal a dangerous precedent of an overreach between the executive and legislative branches.

According to the experts, this also raises concerns about the erosion of the institutional integrity, autonomy, and impartiality that should characterise legislative proceedings and the procedures it follows in exercising its checks and balances role over the executive.

“That action is a confirmation of the complete conquest of the executive over the judiciary,” senior advocate and renowned lawyer Femi Falana told The Gazette.

Mr Falana’s view follows that of the public, who have argued that the performance of the political song within the halls of the Nigerian parliament, especially during a joint session convened to receive the budget for the upcoming year, constitutes a violation of the decorum and sanctity traditionally associated with the hallowed chambers. 

A public affairs analyst, Jide Johnson, said the action is “sacrilegious” and “inciting” to the Nigerian people.

“It is a desecration of the chambers of the assembly, which should never have happened, but we have a political elite whose regard for national symbols and descent political conduct is nearly absent,” said Mr Johnson, a former deputy Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ).

He added, “When gatherings are held in sessions of the assembly, it is strictly national business, not the untoward praise-singing or glorification of any character.”

Kayode Babayomi, state chair of the African Action Congress in Oyo State, doubted the survival of Nigeria’s democracy under the “indecent politics that APC practices.”

“The major players in the party have no regard for democratic tenets or separation of powers or any concept that could serve the Nigerian people and deepen the strength of our institutions,” Mr Babayomi told The Gazette.

He added, “What APC is doing is corrupting our democratic institutions as much as possible so that it remains under their stronghold. The lawmakers not raising any protest also shows that the parliament might just have been captured.”

Mr Tinubu’s predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, enjoyed and exploited the servility of the passive Ahmed Lawan-led 9th Senate, infamously dubbed rubber stamp, under whose leadership the independence and autonomy of the legislature became a source of worry for political observers.

Mr Lawan’s relationship with the executive was described as a criminal conspiracy against Nigerians by political analysts and the general secretary of Campaign for Democracy, Ifeanyi Odili because it failed to live up to its regulatory oversight and scrutiny duty.

The former senate president collaborated with the Buhari administration to skyrocket the country’s foreign debt and borrowings to unsustainable levels with minimal scrutiny. Some of these borrowings were also mismanaged, with insufficient accountability for their spending.

In July, shortly after the inauguration of the 10th National Assembly, Mr Lawan presided over the house’s plenary wearing a cap on which Mr Tinubu’s political logo was inscribed, an attire announcing his fealty to the president.