The State Security Service (SSS) has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to restrain the 2007 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Patrick Utomi, and his associates from making public comments or engaging in rallies in relation to the subject of a suit pending against him over his announced plan to establish a shadow government in the country.
 
Meanwhile, the Big Tent Shadow Cabinet, a good governance advocacy group under the leadership of Utomi, demanded urgent constitutional and electoral reforms to strengthen Nigeria’s democracy.
 
The restraining request, contained in a fresh application filed before the court yesterday by the SSS, followed reports that Utomi, who is outside the country (at press time) planned to engage in protests, road shows, media interviews and related activities upon his return to the country on June 6, 2025.
 
The application seeks, mainly, “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 programmes, jingles or any other public enlightenment programme aimed at sensitising, 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 grounds for the application, according to the SSS legal team led by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), include that, if not restrained, Utomi’s proposed rallies, road shows and actions “constitute a serious threat to the public order, safety and national unity.”
 
The cabinet said the reforms would address structural issues, such as the concentration of power in the centre, which it observed was suffocating subnational entities.
 
Utomi, who is the convener of the group, said at a recent meeting organised by the forum in Lagos: “The cabinet recognises that constitutional amendments matter significantly today because they offer an opportunity to address the country’s numerous challenges and strengthen our democracy.”
 
He said amending the Constitution might restructure the country and promote regional autonomy, address sentiments of marginalisation and inequality, and allow for local council autonomy.
 
This was contained in a communiqué signed by the forum’s Directorate of Media and Communications, Charles Odibo, made available to journalists in Abuja, yesterday.
 
The communiqué reads: “The Big Tent Shadow Cabinet also recognises that the nation’s electoral law reforms matter now because they can significantly impact the country’s democratic growth, stability, and integrity of elections.”
 
According to the group also noted 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, it said, can significantly help prevent electoral disputes and ensure clarity in the electoral process.