The Department of State Services (DSS) filed a legal lawsuit against Professor Pat Utomi when launching the “Shadow Government”, an agency that claimed to have violated the 1999 Constitution and posed a threat to national security.
On May 5, Utomi, a professor of political economy, actually announced the plan, calling it a “big tent alliance shadow government.” According to him, the move was a “national response emergency” to President Bora Tinub’s administration. The shadow cabinet includes opposition figures and professionals, such as human rights advocate Dele Farotimi, who has been appointed as the head of the Ombudsman and the Good Governance portfolio.
In a lawsuit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, DSS asked the initiative to be illegal and unconstitutional provisions through a legal team (SAN) led by Akinlolu Kehinde, a senior Nigerian advocate. Utomi is the only defendant in the lawsuit.
The DSS believes that the establishment of the shadow government is a “serious attack on the 1999 Constitution (Amendment) and a threat to the country’s democratic government.” It said the shadow government initiative “could incite political unrest and incite other illegal actors to replicate similar parallel arrangements in the country.”
The DSS asserted that the move “posed a huge threat to the national security of the country” and asked the court to declare the shadow cabinet “unconstitutional and constitutes an attempt to create a parallel authority without the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (amended).
The security agency demands that the establishment or operation of any government authority or structure outside the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria be declared “in accordance with articles 1 (1), 1 (1), 1 (2) and 14 (2) (a) of the Constitution, which is unconstitutional, unconstitutional and invalid in 1999.”
It also seeks orders to restrict UTOMI, his agents and associates “further take any steps towards establishing or operating the ‘shadow government’, the “shadow cabinet” or the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (Amendated) (Amendated) any similar entity.”
According to the DSS, “the Shadow Government, or the Shadow Cabinet,” is an unregistered and unidentified institution that claims to be an alternative government. In contrast to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1999 (as amended).
The lawsuit added: “The defendant (UTOMI) announced the formation of the institution through public statements, social media and other platforms, with the aim of challenging the legitimacy of the democratically elected government in Nigeria.”
“At opening for the ‘Shadow Cabinet’, the defendant said it was composed of the Ombudsman and a good governance portfolio, managed by Dele Farotimi; the policy delivery unit team was composed of Oghene Momoh, Cheta Nwanze, Cheta Nwanze, Daniel Ikuonobe, Daniel Ikuonobe, Halima Ahmed, Halima Ahmed, David Okonkwo and Obi Ajuga and Counce obi ajuga;
“Based on the intelligence collected by the plaintiff, the activities and statements of the defendant and his colleagues were able to mislead the Nigerian public, weakening confidence in the legitimacy of the elected government and exacerbating public dissatisfaction.”
“The defendant’s actions constitute an attempt to usurp or imitate the administration, in violation of Articles 1 (1), 1 (2) and 14 (2) (a) of the 1999 Constitution, which (amended) grants only governance in institutions formally formulated under the Constitution and democratic elections.”
“The Nigerian federal government has made several efforts to make the defendant discourage him from avoiding this unconstitutional path, including statements from the Minister of Information, but the defendant remains provocative.”
