By Peter Omopo
Political economist and former presidential candidate, Professor Pat Utomi, said on Friday that a group of Nigerians is mobilising 500 lawyers to defend him in court following a suit filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) over his alleged plans to form a “shadow government.”
Utomi made the disclosure in a post on X (formerly Twitter), stating, “It’s energising (that) some want to put together 500 lawyers to defend me against the DSS.”
The DSS had earlier filed a suit at the Federal High Court in Abuja seeking a declaration that Utomi’s proposed shadow government was unconstitutional. The security agency is asking the court to declare the move an attempt to undermine the Nigerian Constitution and destabilise the country.
Filed on May 13 by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Akinlolu Kehinde, the DSS suit argues that Utomi’s action represents a direct threat to the democratically elected government and constitutes “a grave attack on the Constitution.”
Utomi, who contested the 2007 presidential election under the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is the sole defendant in the case.
The DSS has maintained that forming a shadow government without constitutional backing is a dangerous precedent and could lead to national instability.
