Pat Utomi
Jibrin Ibrahim
Why is the DSS Afraid of Pat Utomi’s ‘Shadow Government’
Jibrin Ibrahim, Deepening Democracy Column, Daily Trust, 6th June 2025
Although I have been a student of political science for over fifty years, I still often get surprised by the way in which security agencies take extremist positions in reading political criticisms of the regime in power. When my good friend Pat Utomi announced the decision of the big tent opposition group to set up a shadow government to monitor and track governance as well as ensuring that the necessary electoral reforms take place to ensure the 2027 elections are free, fair and credible, my reaction was, and still is, that it’s a brilliant initiative to place greater scrutiny on the twin tracks that could consolidate democratic governance – tracking of policy implementation and ensuring a level playing ground for democratic practice. If I were heading the DSS, I would have sent a note of commendation to Pat Utomi.
What did the Department of State Services (DSS) do; they threatened him and filed an application at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to restrain Patrick Utomi from making public statements or organising rallies relating to the proposed shadow government in Nigeria.In the application, filed on Wednesday by a team of lawyers led by Akinlolu Kehinde, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the DSS accused Utomi of plotting to usurp the executive authority of President Bola Tinubu through what it described as unlawful and subversive activities disguised as civic engagement. The DSS has a large number of political scientists in-house who know that the said President Tinubu came into power because over three decades, he continuously bombarded succeeding administrations with criticisms over their policy failures, formed political parties and coalitions and on countless occasions was an arrow head in protests and demonstrations. Their intelligence analysis should therefore have been what is good for comrade Tinubu is good for comrade Utomi. Nigeria progressed from military dictatorship to multiparty democracy precisely because the Tinubus and Utomis of the country ceaselessly organised a series of policy analysis and reviews, set up broad front organisations, organised protests, demonstrations, media engagements, and public sensitization efforts aimed at democracy building. The outcome was not inciting aimed public unrest and threatening national stability, it was democratic consolidation.
The DSS should therefore not have asked the court to issue an interlocutory injunction preventing Utomi, his associates, or any representatives from conducting rallies, public lectures, media campaigns, or any form of gathering that would advance the shadow government agenda pending the determination of a substantive suit already before the court. The said activities are legal, constitutional and beneficial to democracy building and should be applauded. Their claim that Utomi’s actions could lead to widespread riots and endanger lives and property is a figment of their imagination.
The idea that the concept of a shadow government initiative is a threat to democracy has no basis in fact. In the British system, the idea is that the government is accountable to the people and the opposition party by scrutinising each government ministry, department and agency and pointing out inadequacies and insufficiencies provides information that citizens can use to make the determination on whether to support or oppose the government of the day. One of the main reasons that explains the poor governance records in Nigeria is that opposition criticisms are too general and non-specific. It does not provide enough empirical basis for performance monitoring of the government’s leadership. Introducing a citizen-focused monitoring team is therefore a very positive development.
I am glad that while speaking to reporters, Kehinde, counsel to the DSS said that they are not seeking to arrest anyone but has chosen to rely on legal channels to resolve what it views as a constitutional matter. He described the DSS as a “civilized” and “law-abiding” institution that respects judicial authority and will continue to operate within the bounds of the law. Excellent! This is the position that pushed me into this response. To make real their claim to being civilised and law-abiding places an obligation on them not to restrain Pat Utomi from “making any further public comments or participating in rallies related to a suit pending against him regarding his declared intention to establish a shadow government in the country.” The Constitution is very clear that we have freedoms of speech, association, assembly, and yes, the rights to protest. That’s at the core of our system of constitutional democracy and the rule of law.
The main argument of the DSS is that establishing a shadow government is an attempt to illegally usurp President Bola Tinubu’s executive powers. They cannot seriously say that a shadow government is the same thing as a government. The proposed Big Tent Shadow Cabinet is a good governance advocacy group that is actually focused on policy analysis and for comprehensive electoral reforms in the country. The group specifically demands that the 2022 Electoral Act be amended to ensure mandatory electronic voting and transmission of election results. The group also advocates for a constitutional amendment to promote regional autonomy, ensure local government independence, and address marginalisation, inequality, and exclusion issues in Nigeria’s political system.
As they noted in a recent press conference: “We note that the 2022 Electoral Act has ambiguities and loopholes that were exposed during the 2023 general election, such as uncertainty regarding the stage for comparing physical copies of results and electronically transmitted results. Reforming these laws can help prevent electoral disputes and ensure clarity in the electoral process.” The group is also advocating for increased autonomy for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve its impartiality in election administration.
The DSS needs to roll back it’s normative cloak that reduces opposition to the government of the day as the pathway to political strife and instability. As Pat Utomi returns to the country from his foreign tour, I urge the DSS to understand his engagement in opposition politics as a legitimate and positive drive for the development and consolidation of Nigerian democracy. Be like me, join the Pat Utomi fan club.
Emmanuel Udogu
Opinion
On this matter, I plead with all Nigerians in the diaspora, civil society organizations in Nigeria, universities both public and private, religious congregations, and political actors regardless of party affiliation to support this movement intended to promote good governance in this great country called Nigeria. In my view, this patriotic action will represent our collective legacy!
Have a good weekend, y'all.
Ike Udogu
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Oluwatoyin Adepoju
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gbemisoye tijani
... politics controls everything on planet earth.let s permit critical followup of any democratic govt in power.
Gbemi Tijani MST
Paul Harris Fellow
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Cornelius Hamelberg
I understand that in Britain there’s a tradition that the opposition usually has a ”Shadow Cabinet”
I daresay that it’s no surprise at all that in this case , and in the given context ( Nigeria) the idea of “a shadow government” reeks of duplicity and it would seem to me that in its declared intentions “to monitor and track governance” - in short, to police - practically could be viewed as operating in the realm of challenge - challenging legally, democratically elected authority,
Nor would this perception be less true in some other political contexts, and here we could choose the United States , the world's bastion of democracy for our hypothetical example: How do you think Trump would react if Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi were to declare that they had set up “a shadow Government” a kind of as yet unelected “Government- in-waiting” that was arrogating to itself the role of monitoring all legislative actions of Trump’s administration, with a view to correcting them ?
And what kind of attitude do you think The Tinubu Administration should have towards a so-called “ Nigerian Shadow Government" waiting in the wings in or out of the country?
Ignoramus is only asking,
Cornelius Hamelberg
To begin with, perhaps it's the name of the movement "Shadow Government" which apart from being suggestive in an underhand sort of way, insidious, mischievous, is also misleading .If “Electoral Reform” is their raison d'être, why does Utomi & Co want to call themselves "Shadow Government” ?
Salimonu Kadiri
Sent: 09 June 2025 23:21
To: USA Africa Dialogue Series <usaafric...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [External] [SOCIAL NETWORK] USA Africa Dialogue Series - Pat Utomi
Ibrahim Abdullah
Cornelius Hamelberg
A cynic’s view, not mine:
The devil never comes to you and declares ,”Beware, I’m the devil!”
No. He’s always in disguise, sometimes masquerading as God’s special envoy,
an angel of light shining his exalted poetry and showing off his portfolio of good ideas
shining his light in the corrupt darkness
Uncle Tom’s cabin wasn’t enough, now it’s
Uncle Tom’s "Shadow Government “ on the menu
“Have you ever seen a ghost? No
But you have heard of them”
darkness on the face of the deep)
Robert Mugabe asked , "Have we now become like Nigeria?”
The hopeless sinner is still asking
“ What good can come out of Galilee?”
And since no one is exempt, the sinful
Naija cynic and the “Shadowy Government”
critic would like to read their highfalutin
“Manifesto” which like all the other manifestos of yore
Before theirs
would be full of promises about “ Zero
Tolerance” for corruption and that they will
“Hit the ground running”.
Didn’t Pa Tinubu himself declare that his would be
“a government of national competence” ?
This one thing’s for sure about the non-existent
self-declared and as yet unelected “Shadow Government”:
Even though before they take any oath of office
they want the general public to believe that anti-corruption
is on their main agenda, I’m sure that their manifesto
will not be based on The Thirteen Principles of Faith
And why should it?
Shadow government
Shallow gofferment
Shadow people
Shady characters
Knee-deep in corruption
With one purpose only
To enrich themselves
And that’s why they don’t want
To declare their assets
A well-attested praxis
First things first : Commander-in-thief
Making a beeline for the national treasury
Your patrimony
Your patrimony money
Trust Baba Kadiri
To always put it STRAIGHT
Oluwatoyin Adepoju
If 95 percent of Nigerians have zero purchasing power, how are they surviving?
ogunlakaiye
Abolaji Adekeye
Ghost voters
Shadow government
Shadow of a doubt
Shades of meaning
Pat and parcel
Prime Sinister
Phantom Cabinet
Primus inter pares
E pluribus unum
Utomi's Topical Utopia.
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