Shadow govt: 500 lawyers to defend Utomi against DSS

Pat Utomi, a renowned professor of political economy, has said he is receiving support from some Nigerians who are planning to mobilise 500 lawyers to defend him against the Department of State Services (DSS).

Utomi made this known in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday.

“It’s energising (that) some want to put together 500 lawyers to defend me against the DSS,” he said.

The DSS had sued Utomi over his alleged plan to establish what he calls “a shadow government” in the country.

According to the suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the DSS prayed the court to declare the move an attack on the Constitution.

The professor of political economy, who is the 2007 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), was sued as the sole defendant.

In the suit filed on May 13 by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Akinlolu Kehinde, the agency contended that the move by Utomi was intended to create chaos and destabilise the country.

The DSS had argued that the planned shadow government was not only an aberration but also constituted a grave attack on the Constitution and a threat to the democratically elected government currently in place.

However, Utomi said he was gladdened by the solidarity he had received from across the country.

“I am heartened by messages of solidarity from across Nigeria on this shadowy business of chasing shadows of shadow cabinets.

“They remind me of the Nigeria I used to know. I want to thank all.”

The planned shadow cabinet was greeted by reactions from several Nigerians, including a former presidential candidate and activist, Omoyele Sowore, who said it was an ineffective symbolic gesture that lacked real-world impact on Nigeria’s pressing challenges.

Speaking during an interview on Inside Sources on Channels TV on Sunday, Sowore argued that the idea of a shadow cabinet was futile in a country where the existing government is itself opaque and largely unaccountable.

He said, “Well, how do you replace a shadow government with another set of shadowy governments? I would not begrudge anybody who thinks of solutions that can bring awareness to the people.

“But I do not think that setting up a government with names of people who call themselves a shadow government makes any difference.”