From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The Department of State Services (DSS) has asked the Abuja division of the Federal High Court to restrain a former presidential candidate, Prof. Patrick Utomi, from making public comments or engaging in any form of rally relating to his announced plan to establish a shadow government in the country.
The security agency had accused Utomi, who was the candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2007 presidential election, of attempting to illegally usurp the executive powers of President Bola Tinubu.
Meanwhile, Justice James Omotosho has fixed Tuesday, June 25, 2025, to hear the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, which has Utomi as the sole defendant.
The DSS, in a fresh application filed by Mr. Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, told the court that it received intelligence that the defendant, Utomi, who is currently outside the country, has concluded plans to return on Friday, June 6, 2025, to engage in protests, road shows, and media interviews.
The secret police submitted that the planned activities were aimed at instigating citizens, in furtherance of the defendant’s bid to establish an illegitimate government, an issue that is the subject matter of a suit that is pending before the court.
Consequently, it prayed the court for: “An order of interlocutory injunction, restraining the defendant/respondent (Utomi), his agents, privies, associates, servants, workers, or any person acting through him, from staging road shows, rallies, public lectures, or any form of public gathering, newspaper publications, television programmes, jingles, or any other public enlightenment programme(s) aimed at sensitising, instigating, propagating, or in any way promoting the purported ‘shadow government/shadow cabinet’ or its objectives or goals, with the view to establishing the said ‘shadow government’, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”
According to the applicant, if not restrained, Utomi’s proposed rallies, road shows, and actions would “constitute a serious threat to the public order, safety, and national unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The DSS said it is statutorily empowered to safeguard the internal security of the country and prevent threats to the lawful authority of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and its constituent institutions.
It told the court that it was incumbent on it to forestall any threat to public order, safety, and national unity.
The agency said it gathered through monitoring and intelligence reports that Utomi would return to the country “to stage road shows and rallies under the guise of freedom of speech and association, in a bid to cause public discontent in furtherance of his establishment of the purported shadow government/shadow cabinet.”
It told the court that Utomi’s intention is to stage road shows and rallies “that are capable of drawing a large number of Nigerians with intent that will cause huge disruption of peace, breakdown of public order, enable riots and violent protests just as the recent ‘End SARS’ protests in 2020.”
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the application was filed on Wednesday, June 4, 2025, counsel to the DSS, Mr. Kehinde, SAN, said his client instituted the action to ensure internal peace and to avoid any form of insurrection and treasonable felony against the democratically elected government in the country.
This fresh application is predicated on the fact that despite the pendency of the substantive action, duly served on him in addition to the appearance of his counsel, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, on May 20, 2025, he has continued to make inflammatory statements capable of igniting chaos in the country instead of abiding by the hallowed principle that civilised parties before the court are expected to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the substantive matter.
“What our client has submitted to the court is for the interpretation of the Constitution, whether any form of government by whatever nomenclature can be formed or allowed outside the Constitution.
“Furthermore, our client is not interested in arresting anybody in respect of this matter, having on its own accord, submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the honourable court to interpret the Constitution and determine the legality or otherwise of the ‘shadow government’ or any other nomenclature that it may be so named.
“It must be pointed out that our client under its current leadership is a very civilised organisation with absolute confidence in the rule of law and that is why, it or any of its personnel will always approach the court of law whenever it feels that there is any infraction on its statutory duties by anyone or the rights of its personnel,” Kehinde, SAN, added.