Justice James Omotosho of Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday upheld the arguments of the Department of State Services (DSS) that the bid by economist and former president aide, Professor Pat Utomi can endanger peace and security of Nigeria.
The Court said this while barring Utomi from establishing “a shadow government” in the country.
The court described the move as “unconstitutional and void,” while upholding the arguments of the DSS against the move by Utomi.
Justice Omotosho said he had perused the country’s constitution and there was no part that supports the formation of a shadow or parallel government.
Citing Section 1(1) and (2) of the 1999 Constitution, the judge said the constitution is supreme and binding on all citizens irrespective of political divides.
“The Nigerian constitution makes no room for shadow government.
“Therefore, any participation in any government which is unknown to law will be struck down by this court.
“I hereby declared the formation as void,” the judge ruled.
The judge also affirmed the jurisdictional power of the court to entertain the matter.
The court, in dealing with the novel issues of “shadow government,” had invited some eminent legal experts for their professional inputs.
Justice Omotosho had, on July 10, fixed today for the judgment in the DSS’ suit against Utomi, a Professor of Political Economy and Management Expert.
The judge fixed the date after DSS’ counsel, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN; Utomi’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, and the seven invited amici curiae (friends of the court) made their submissions for and against the suit.
The DSS, in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025 and filed by Kehinde, prayed the court to declare the move by Utomi to form a shadow government as an attack on the constitution.
The service contended that the move by Utomi was intended to create chaos and destabilise the country.
The agency also filed a motion on notice praying the court for an interlocutory injunction, stopping Utomi and his agents from staging any rally or demonstration in relation to the subject matter, which is currently pending before the court.
The DSS said it got an intelligence that the defendant had concluded plans to engage in protests, road shows and media interviews.
But Utomi, in his preliminary objection filed by Ozekhome, urged the court to dismiss the suit for want of jurisdiction.
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The 2007 Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) raised four grounds why the suit should be dismissed in its entirety.
He argued that the DSS’s suit disclosed no reasonable cause of action within the contemplation of the enabling statute of the security outfit — the National Security Agencies Act, Cap N74, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
He submitted that the “subject matter of the suit, being civic political engagement, shadow cabinet formation, and public policy discourse, does not fall within the statutory functions of the State Security Service as provided under Section 2(3) of the National Security Agencies Act.
“The reliefs sought by the plaintiff/respondent seek to criminalise constitutionally protected rights to freedom of expression, association, and political participation contrary to Sections 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
“The suit amounts to an abuse of court process, is speculative, incompetent, inchoate and lacks any legal foundation.”
Utomi, therefore, urged the court to strike out or dismiss the suit on the aforesaid grounds and for want of jurisdiction.
In the affidavit in support of the notice of preliminary objection deposed to by Utomi himself, he said that the suit was speculative, hypothetical and premature, as it seeks preemptive orders on mere suspicion and without factual basis. He averred that the DSS lacked the requisite locus standi to institute the action in the manner it had done.
