The Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order restraining Prof. Pat Utomi and his associates from proceeding with their plan to establish a shadow government or cabinet in the country.

Justice James Omotosho issued the order yesterday in a judgment on a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025 with Utomi as the sole defendant. Justice Omotosho declared the idea of a shadow government/cabinet as unconstitutional and a concept alien to the nation’s presidential system of government.

The judge held that Utomi and his associates could not hide under the rights to freedom of association and expression to engage in unlawful activities.

The judge upheld the argument by the plaintiff’s lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, that the move by Utomi and his associates to form a shadow government/cabinet was intended to create chaos and destabilise the country.

He also agreed with the plaintiff that, not only is the planned shadow government an aberration, but it also constituted a grave attack on the Constitution and a threat to the democratically elected government that is in place.

He held that such a structure, styled as a shadow government/cabinet, if left unchecked, might incite political unrest, cause intergroup tensions, and embolden other unlawful actors or separatist entities to replicate similar parallel arrangements, all of which pose a grave threat to national security

Justice Omotosho held that although the defendant was entitled to enjoy the rights to freedom of expression and to associate, such rights were not absolute

He further held that the two rights being claimed by the defendant could legally be violated in some instances, particularly where there was a need to protect society from anarchy and the breakdown of law and order.

The judge held that, in the interest of the security of the country, such rights (freedom of expression and association) do not exist for the defendant, warning that the court would not sit idly by to allow the defendant to cause confusion in the country.

The judge noted that the shadow government/cabinet being planned by Utomi and others posed a danger to the country’s stability and safety. He said that Utomi, although he claimed to be running a civil society organisation, his decision to form a shadow government was a nullity.

The judge noted that there were existing avenues through which people could criticise the government, which the defendant could explore, but not to take unconstitutional steps, like forming a shadow government/cabinet.