The Department of State Services, DSS, has dragged Prof. Pat Utomi to court over his alleged plan to establish what he called a shadow government in the country.
In a suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the DSS prayed the court to declare the move as an attack on the Constitution.
Ekwutosblog reports that in the fresh suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, Utomi, the 2007 Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, is sued as the sole defendant.
The secret police, in the suit filed on May 13 by Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, argued that the move by Utomi was intended to create chaos and destabilise the country.
The DSS contended that not only was the planned shadow government an aberration, it constituted a grave attack on the Constitution and a threat to the democratically elected government that is currently in place.
The security outfit expressed concern that such a structure, styled as a “shadow government,” if left unchecked, may incite political unrest, cause inter-group tensions, and embolden other unlawful actors or separatist entities to replicate similar parallel arrangements, all of which would pose a grave threat to national security.
The plaintiff, therefore, urged the court to declare the purported “shadow government” or “shadow cabinet” being planned by Utomi and his associates as “unconstitutional and amounts to an attempt to create a parallel authority not recognised by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
It also sought a declaration that “under Sections 1(1), 1(2), and 14(2)(a) of the Constitution, the establishment or operation of any governmental authority or structure outside the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) is unconstitutional, null, and void.”
The plaintiff prayed the court to issue an order of perpetual injunction, restraining Utomi, his agents, and associates “from further taking any steps towards the establishment or operation of a ‘shadow government,’ ‘shadow cabinet’ or any similar entity not recognized by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
The plaintiff, in its grounds of argument, hinged its prayers on the fact that Section 1(1) of the Constitution declares its supremacy and binding force on all persons and authorities in Nigeria.
It added that Section 1(2) prohibits the governance of Nigeria or any part thereof except in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
According to the DSS, Section 14(2)(a) states that sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria, from whom government through the Constitution derives all its powers and authority.
It argued that Utomi’s proposed shadow government lacked constitutional recognition and authority, thereby contravening the aforementioned provisions.
The plaintiff further stated in a supporting affidavit that it is the principal domestic intelligence and security agency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, statutorily mandated to detect and prevent threats to the internal security of Nigeria, including subversive activities capable of undermining national unity, peace, and constitutional order.
The DSS added that it is statutorily empowered to safeguard the internal security of Nigeria and prevent any threats to the lawful authority of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its constituent institutions.
It stated that it has monitored, “through intelligence reports and open source material, public statements and interviews granted by the defendant, Professor Patrick Utomi, in which he announced the purported establishment of what he termed a ‘shadow government’ or ‘shadow cabinet,’ comprising of several persons that make up its ‘Ministers.’”
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