IN May 2025, political activist, Pat Utomi, a professor, stirred up the hornet’s nest announced the formation of a shadow government designed to serve as an opposition to President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to the professor of political economy, the initiative, which he described as a “national emergency response,” was launched virtually under the banner of the Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government.
Utomi said the new body, comprising members from Nigeria’s opposition parties, would scrutinise government actions, identify policy failures, and propose alternative solutions in key areas such as the economy, education, healthcare, infrastructure, law and order, and constitutional reform.
He explained that the group would meet weekly to analyse public policy and recommend reforms. Utomi emphasised the importance of focusing on integrity and transparency, which he said were sorely lacking under the current administration. Utomi said the shadow cabinet comprises diverse professionals and public figures from the opposition, functioning both as a think tank and policy watchdog to provide credible alternatives to government decisions.
The proposed shadow cabinet includes a diverse range of experts and professionals, such as human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi, prominent voices like Oghene Momoh and Cheta Nwanze, and academics like Ukachukwu Awuzie, a professor, and Otive Igbuzor, among others, covering various portfolios and areas of expertise.
The formation of the shadow government has, however, generated a lot of controversy and tension across the country, with many divergent views on the initiative.
Reacting to the establishment of the shadow government, the federal government, through the State Security Services (SSS), took Utomi to the Federal High Court.
The secret police said forming a shadow cabinet is an attempt to seize executive power which violates the Constitution, poses a security threat, and could embolden separatists.
Speaking on the action of the SSS, Utomi stressed that he would not go into hiding but rather submit himself.
What is a shadow government?
An Ilorin based legal practitioner, Moshood Ibrahim, said a shadow government has to do with people forming a prototype of a government in power, like the elected government. So, they’ll be in the background.
He explained that the term can also refer to influential individuals or groups, such as business moguls, central bank officials, or religious leaders, who exert control over elected officials from behind the scenes, effectively pulling the strings of power.
He added that the concept of a shadow government is typically found in a parliamentary system, where the executive and legislative powers are combined. He added that a shadow government, led by someone from a different party, serves as a check on the ruling government.
He, however, questioned the Utomi-proposed shadow government.
“When you say ‘shadow government,’ sometimes it may mean we are talking about the fact that it’s an ideology that people believe that apart from these people that you are saying we elected; like the president and the governors, there are some people behind the scenes that are controlling their activities, like the business moguls, the central bank, the religious leaders, or some other influential people that control their actions, that they influence what. So, to them, these people are actually the government; that’s called the shadow government.
“But if I get the angle you are coming from right, like what Pat Utomi is trying to do, that they will form a government that they will be challenging the federal government, it’s unknown to Nigerian law.”
Is a shadow government legal in Nigeria?
Ibrahim stated that in his opinion, forming a shadow government is an act of treason because the concept of a shadow government does not exist in Nigeria’s presidential system of government.
“We have a president, we have the executive, and we have the legislative council headed by the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as the case may be, or the Speaker of the state house of assemblies, as the case may be.
“So, there is nothing like a shadow government in a presidential system of government. So, anybody that is now coming up with it, it will be another issue entirely,” the lawyer stated.
He said that even if a prominent figure like Atiku Abubakar from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who came second in the last presidential election, were to form a shadow government to criticise the current administration, it would still be considered treason under Nigerian law.
He emphasised that forming a shadow government amounts to treason and is against the Nigerian Constitution.
“The wording and letters of the Nigerian constitution are very clear. Section 1, sub 2, of the constitution says that nobody can govern, or no person or any group can govern any part of Nigeria, except in the way prescribed by the constitution. What is the way prescribed by the constitution? It’s by way of election.
“If you are not elected, you cannot say you are this; you can’t make a government. It’s either you are the government, you are elected by the people, or you are not in government,” Ibrahim stated.
According to him, you can be IN opposition, criticise the government, be a civil society organisation (CSO), or be a human rights activist. “But saying you are a government, it amounts to treason,” he submitted.
However, in his view, a former presidential spokesperson and political analyst, Laolu Akande, dismissed concerns over Utomi’s proposed shadow government.
He described it as a harmless exercise in political thought rather than a threat to national security.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday, May 16, Akande urged the State Security Services (SSS) to focus on more pressing security issues rather than targeting Utomi’s initiative.
Akande’s remarks came in response to a lawsuit filed by the SSS against Utomi, a professor.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance