Keyamo: No one sings ‘On Your Mandate’ in place of anthem, accuses NDC of secessionism

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has defended the use of the campaign song, On Your Mandate, to welcome President Bola Tinubu at public events, insisting that it is never sung in place of Nigeria’s national anthem. Keyamo also accused the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of promoting secessionism, alleging that singing an outlawed national anthem in place of the legally recognised anthem amounted to an expression of a desire to have a separate country.

He made the remarks in a post on his X account on Sunday while responding to what he described as attempts by some individuals to equate the use of Tinubu’s campaign song with the singing of the former national anthem. The minister explained that supporters of Tinubu always observe the national anthem at official events before singing On Your Mandate to celebrate the President.

“At no time have supporters of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sung ON YOUR MANDATE IN PLACE of the National Anthem. At every occasion, the NATIONAL ANTHEM is always sung as a mark of recognition of one of our most important national symbols, and then the President is serenaded by his supporters with ON YOUR MANDATE,” he said. Keyamo maintained that nobody should prevent the presidential candidate of the NDC, Peter Obi, from adopting a song, including the former national anthem, as his campaign or personal song.

He, however, insisted that such a song must be performed either before or after the legally recognised national anthem has been rendered. The minister also defended the Police Band’s use of the instrumental version of On Your Mandate to herald Tinubu’s arrival at public functions or his decision to address an audience. According to him, the practice is consistent with established presidential protocol, under which the Police Band plays an instrumental piece whenever the President arrives at an event or rises to speak.

He cited the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari, saying the Police Band similarly played musical pieces to herald their arrival at the National Assembly or before they addressed gatherings. Keyamo said the On Your Mandate instrumental is sometimes played by the Police Band to announce Tinubu’s presence or speech, but only after the national anthem has been rendered.

He further argued that the practice was not unusual, pointing out that several states in Nigeria have their own anthems, which are performed after the national anthem at official functions. The minister, however, drew a distinction between the adoption of a campaign or state anthem and the singing of an outlawed national anthem in place of the officially recognised one.

He described the alleged action by the NDC as an expression of a desire to have a separate country. “Singing an outlawed anthem IN PLACE of a legally approved NATIONAL ANTHEM by the NDC is surely an expression of a desire to have a separate country, and that is an INGREDIENT OF A SECESSIONIST GROUP,” Keyamo said. Vanguard Newspaper