Economist and former presidential aspirant Prof. Pat Utomi has reacted to the legal process begun against him by the Department of State Services (DSS) following his intention to form a shadow government.
Chronicle NG reported that on May 5, Utomi launched the ‘Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government’’, designed to serve as a credible opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to Utomi, the Shadow Government is made up of members from various Nigerian opposition parties and is tasked with regularly scrutinising government actions, identifying policy failures, and proposing alternative solutions in key areas such as the economy, education, healthcare, infrastructure, law and order, and constitutional reform.
In response, the DSS took Utomi to court and accused the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate in the 2007 presidential election of seeking to illegally usurp President Bola Tinubu’s executive powers.
It informed the court that Prof. Utomi’s actions had the potential to destabilise the country since they were designed to cause disorder.
In a statement made on his X account on Friday, Utomi dismissed the allegations and said he remains resolute in his commitment to democratic ideals.
“I am heartened by messages of solidarity from across Nigeria on this shadowy business of chasing shadows of shadow cabinets. Reminds me of the Nigeria I used to know. I want to thank everyone. It’s energising; some want to put together 500 lawyers to defend me against the DSS.
“To worship money and power at the expense of the future all our children will live in, with no care for the peace and progress of those times, is condemnable by all of decent conscience. They have a moral obligation to push back on such darkness.
“It’s amazing that we are chasing shadows while our constitution is unravelling, aided by those in power. The constitution holds that those who defect from parties they were elected from must have their seats declared vacant. If DSS enjoys going to court, it should prosecute such.”
Earlier, Utomi, referencing his past involvement in pro-democracy efforts during the Sani Abacha regime, recalled chairing a conference on Nigeria’s democratic future at St Leo’s in Ikeja, Lagos.
He wrote, “It was put as a question: Is this how democracy dies in Nigeria? The answer is in the affirmative. This is how democracy died in Nigeria. Where citizens cannot organise themselves to ask questions of their agents.
“Under Abacha we brought Nigerians together at St Leo in Ikeja for a conference on the future of Nigeria. I chaired the planning which came out of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria on the watch of then Fr Kukah and Ehusani. Now for shadowing democracy, hell comes.
“Where am I? Will arrive on June 12 and head to Abiola’s residence. My hands are primed for handcuffs, and if the Aquino treatment from Marcos, a bullet at the airport, is preferred, I submit willingly like a lamb led to slaughter. Death is no big deal. 4 of my friends are in the mortuary.
“What is certain is that Tinubu will not escape that same fate. He may have been in London when I faced the assassins under Abacha and been the supplier to Chief Enahoro and NADECO abroad of reports of my position on matters of the struggle, but we all ultimately go the way of man.”
Utomi likened his stance to that of global freedom icons like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr, insisting he would continue to fight for democratic accountability.
“To the spirit of Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Nelson Mandela and the holy watch of St Thomas More, I raise the meaning of being for what is left of my time on this stage,” he wrote.
“I remember the showman of science, Carl Sagan, as the NASA orbiter turned its camera to Earth for the final time. A speck of dust, home to tyrants who have threatened Rivers of Blood and also to all those we have loved. I am emboldened to chant, Freedom now; if we die, we die.”
