From Victor Osula, Abuja
The Department of State Services (DSS) has filed a lawsuit against Professor Pat Utomi over his alleged plan to establish a “shadow government” in Nigeria.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, the DSS is asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to declare Utomi’s actions a direct assault on the Nigerian Constitution.
Filed on May 13 by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), the DSS argued that Utomi’s plan to set up a shadow government is aimed at inciting chaos and destabilising the country.
The service contended that the creation of such a government is unconstitutional and poses a threat to national security, warning that it could provoke political unrest and encourage separatist groups or unlawful elements to replicate similar parallel structures.
Specifically, the DSS urged the court to declare Utomi’s proposed “shadow government” and “shadow cabinet” illegal, as such entities are not recognised by the Nigerian Constitution. It also sought a perpetual injunction restraining Utomi, his associates, and agents from further attempts to establish or operate any parallel government outside constitutional boundaries.
The agency cited the supremacy of the Constitution as enshrined in Section 1(1) and its express prohibition of governance outside its framework under Section 1(2). It also referenced Section 14(2)(a), which affirms that sovereignty belongs to the Nigerian people, from whom all government authority is derived.
In a supporting affidavit, the DSS noted that as Nigeria’s principal domestic intelligence agency, it is mandated to safeguard the nation’s internal security.
It stated that it had monitored public statements and media interviews in which Utomi announced the formation of a shadow government and the appointment of individuals as “ministers.”
