The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has been approached by the State Security Service (SSS) to issue an interlocutory injunction restraining Prof. Pat Utomi and his associates from organizing rallies, making public comments, or engaging in any activity promoting the formation of a “shadow government.”
The request was contained in a fresh application filed by the SSS on Wednesday amid intelligence reports suggesting that Utomi, a former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), intends to return to Nigeria on June 6 to launch a series of protests, road shows, and media engagements.
According to the application, the SSS is seeking “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 programs, jingles or any other public enlightenment programme(s) aimed at sensitizing, 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 this substantive suit.”
The security agency, through its lead counsel Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, argued that the proposed activities pose “a serious threat to the public order, safety and national unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
The SSS emphasized its statutory responsibility to prevent threats to the nation’s internal security and insisted it must act to forestall actions capable of undermining lawful authority. It further stated that prior to the suit, Utomi had used public platforms to “undermine the outcome of the pending case,” fully aware that proceedings had already commenced.
The agency alleged it had obtained credible intelligence indicating that Utomi’s planned public engagements, “under the guise of freedom of speech and association,” were part of a broader strategy to incite public discontent and advance his shadow government agenda.
In a supporting affidavit, the agency claimed that Utomi’s proposed road shows and rallies could attract large crowds and trigger disturbances reminiscent of the 2020 EndSARS protests. “All the planned protests, riots and agitations that will ensue, if the purported actions of the defendant/respondent are not stayed, may lead to mayhem with a potential for anarchy, loss of lives and property,” it warned.
The SSS described Utomi’s actions as a calculated threat to national stability, noting his remarks during a May 26 lecture organized by the University of Lagos Mass Communication Class of 1988, themed “Shadow Government: A Distraction or Necessity.”
