The Department of State Services (DSS) has sued Prof. Pat Utomi over his alleged plan to establish a “shadow government” in Nigeria.
The DSS filed the suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, praying the court to declare the move as an attack on the constitution.
The security outfit contended that Utomi’s plan was intended to create chaos and destabilize the country.
It argued that the planned shadow government was an aberration and constituted a grave attack on the constitution and a threat to the democratically elected government.
The DSS prayed the court to declare the purported “shadow government” or “shadow cabinet” being planned by Utomi and his associates as “unconstitutional and amounts to an attempt to create a parallel authority not recognised by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”
The plaintiff hinged its prayers on the fact that Section 1(1) of the Constitution declares its supremacy and binding force on all persons and authorities in Nigeria.
It added that Section 1(2) prohibits the governance of Nigeria or any part thereof except in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
The agency expressed concern that the shadow government, if left unchecked, may incite political unrest, cause inter-group tensions, and embolden other unlawful actors or separatist entities to replicate similar parallel arrangements, all of which would pose a grave threat to national security.
The DSS also stated that it had monitored, through intelligence reports and open source material, public statements and interviews granted by Utomi, in which he announced the purported establishment of the shadow government.
The agency claimed that Utomi’s actions pose a clear and present danger to Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.
The suit is yet to be assigned to any judge for hearing.
The DSS is seeking a declaration that Utomi’s actions are unconstitutional and an order of perpetual injunction restraining him from further taking any steps towards the establishment or operation of the shadow government.
