A Federal High Court in Abuja has barred Professor Pat Utomi, a renowned political economist, and his associates from going ahead with their plan to set up a shadow government in Nigeria.
The ruling came on Monday in response to a suit filed by the Department of State Services (DSS). Delivering judgment, Justice James Omotosho declared that the idea of a shadow government or cabinet is unconstitutional and has no place in Nigeria’s presidential system of government.
On May 5, Utomi announced his shadow government initiative under the Big Tent Coalition, describing it as a credible opposition to the President Bola Tinubu administration.
On May 14, the DSS initiated a suit against Utomi over the launch, arguing that it usurped executive authority.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025 and filed at the federal high court, Abuja, the secret police sought the declaration of the shadow government initiative as illegal.
In July, Utomi unveiled members of his shadow cabinet to “provide policy alternatives to the federal government”.
The federal government had kicked against the concept, with Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, stating that “Nigeria is not a parliamentary system where such a system is practised, and there is no provision for such in our statute books. While opposition politics is a central feature of democracy, it must be practised at all times within the bounds of propriety”.
(TheCable)
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