The State Security Service filed a fresh application against Pat Utomi on Wednesday at the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, over his alleged plans to hold rallies related to the subject of a suit pending against him.
The SSS, in an application filed through its lawyer, Akinlolu Kehinde, before Justice James Omotosho, requested that the court restrain Mr Utomi and his associates from making further public comments or engaging in rallies in relation to a planned “shadow government” formation.
The SSS had, earlier, dragged Mr Utomi, the 2007 presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, before the court over his alleged plan to establish “a shadow government” in Nigeria.
The security agency, in the suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, prayed the court to declare the move an attack on the constitution, and the judge had fixed June 25 for the hearing.
Meanwhile, the fresh motion filed before the judge was in response to reports that Mr Utomi, reportedly abroad, had planned to engage in protests, road shows, media interviews, and related activities upon his return to the country on June 6.
In the application filed on Wednesday, the SSS sought one relief.
The SSS prayed for an order of interlocutory injunction, restraining the defendant/respondent (Mr Utomi) and his agents from staging road shows, rallies, public lectures, or any form of public gathering, as well as from publishing in newspapers, producing television programmes, creating jingles, or engaging in any other public enlightenment programme.
The SSS, in its grounds of application, argued that, if not restrained, Mr Utomi’s proposed rallies, road shows, and actions would “constitute a serious threat to the public order, safety and national unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria“.
The security agency stated that it was statutorily empowered to safeguard the country’s internal security and prevent any threats to the country and its constituent institutions, thereby forestalling any threat to public order, safety, and national unity.
The secret police stated that before filing the substantive suit, Mr Utomi, a professor of Political Economy, had, through public statements, social media, and other platforms, engaged in statements and actions aimed at undermining the outcome of the case now pending before the court, which he is aware of.
The SSS said it gathered through monitoring and intelligence reports that Mr Utomi planned “to stage road shows and rallies under the guise of freedom of speech and association in a bid to cause public discontent in furtherance of his establishment of the purported ‘shadow government/shadow cabinet’”.
The secret police alleged that Mr Utomi’s intention “is to stage roadshows and rallies that are capable of drawing a large number of Nigerians with intent that will cause huge disruption of peace, breakdown of public order, and enable riots and violent protests just as the recent” #EndSARS protests in 2020.
“All the planned protests, riots and agitations that will ensue if the purported actions of the defendant/respondent are not stayed may lead to mayhem with a potential for anarchy and loss of lives and property.
“The proposed allies, road shows and actions of the defendant/respondent constitute a serious threat to the public order, safety and national unity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” the SSS further told the judge.
The SSS stated that on May 26, during the fourth edition of the Topaz Lecture Series hosted by the University of Lagos Mass Communication Class of 1988 Alumni Association, Mr Utomi made statements capable of undermining the pending suit.
It added that in the statements, widely publicised in newspapers and on social media platforms, Mr Utomi defended the creation of the purported shadow government and further stated that if the suit succeeded in favour of the SSS, he and his group would adopt a different name.
The agency added that Mr Utomi had been served with the originating process in this suit and had entered an appearance through his counsel, Mike Ozekhome, as of 20 May 2025.
“Unless this honourable court intervenes by granting this application, the defendant/respondent’s acts may foist a fait accompli on the court. It is in the interest of justice, national security, and the rule of law for this honourable court to grant this application,” the SSS stated.
(NAN)
