*Says Utomi, associates should float or join political party
By Gift Ishaq, Abuja
Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday declared as illegal, unlawful, and unconstitutional the bid by Prof. Pat Utomi and some of his associates to form a shadow government in the country.
The judge further held that Utomi and his associates could not hide behind the pillar of the rights of association to criticise the government to engage in unlawful activities.
Delivering his landmark judgement in a suit filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) challenging the propriety by Utomi and some associates of his to form a shadow government, Justice Omotosho declared the move as null, void and unconstitutional.
According to the judge, s Utomi and his associates should rather form or join a political party to run for office or to provide constructive opposition.
Justice Omotosho further held that the association Utomi registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government (BTCSG), for the purpose of sponsoring his shadow government was ultra vires and patently illegal.
On the question of the suit by the DSS violating the fundamental human rights of the defendants, Justice Omotosho held that the action of the defendant was dangerous and non-justifiable, saying that fundamental rights were not absolute but had limitations.
The judge commended the DSS for filing the suit and held among others, that it was within the right of the DSS to take steps to prevent acts capable of threatening the nation’s internal security
Shortly after Utomi had in May launched what he called the Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government (BTCSG), which he called a “national emergency response,” the DSS approached the Federal High Court to determine the constitutionality of shadow government in a presidential system of government.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, the DSS held that the “shadow government” being championed by Prof. Utomi not only was alien to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) but also capable of causing anarchy and destabilizing Nigeria.
The DSS further contended that with a democratically-elected presidential government in place, any “shadow government as being promoted by Utomi or anybody, could incite, “trigger political unrest, cause intergroup tensions, and embolden other unlawful actors or separatist entities to replicate similar parallel arrangements, all of which pose a grave threat to national security.”
The DSS , whose constitutional mandate is to oversee internal security, prayed the court to declare the purported “shadow government” or “shadow cabinet” being planned by Utomi and his associates as unconstitutional.
It further argued that the strange movement is tantamount to an attempt to create a parallel authority not recognised by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
The DSS further sought a declaration that “under Sections 1(1), 1(2) and 14(2)(a) of the 1999 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 DSS also asked 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).”
