Pat Utomi
Court declares Utomi’s ‘Shadow government’ unconstitutional
A Federal high court sitting 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 court held that Utomi and his associates cannot hide behind the pillar of the rights of association to criticise the government to engage in unlawful activities.
Delivering judgement in a suit instituted by the Department of State Services (DSS) challenging the bid by Utomi and some associates of his to form a shadiw government, Justice James Omotosho declared the move as null, void and unconstitutional.
Instead, said the judge, Utomi and his associates should form or join a political party to run for office or to provide constructive opposition.
The judge 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 is ultra vires.
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On the question of the suit by the DSS violated the fundamental human rights of the defendants, Justice Omotosho held that the action of the defendant is dangerous and non justifiable. He stressed that fundamental rights are not absolute but have limitations.
He 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, 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 is alien to the Nigerian Constitution, but capable of causing anarchy and destabilizing Nigeria.
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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 secret police, whose constitutional mandate is to oversee internal security, prayed the curt to declare the purported “shadow government” or”‘shadow cabinet” being planned by Utomi and his associates as unconstitutional, arguing that it “amounts to an attempt to create a parallel authority not recognized 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 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.”
In addition, the secret police 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).”
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