Shadow Govt: Senior Lawyer Commends DSS, Says Agency Acted Within Its Mandate

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Adeboro Adamson, has commended the Department of State Security (DSS) for challenging the legality of the shadow government proposed by a former presidential candidate, Prof. Pat Utomi. Adamson said the DSS was civil and acted within the confines of its mandate.

On his part, an aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, described Utomi’s shadow government as treason.

Utomi, a professor of political economy, had recently initiated what he called the “Big Tent Coalition Shadow Government”, which, according to him, will be a “national emergency response” to systematically monitor government actions, identify failures, and propose alternative solutions across critical sectors.

However, speaking Sunday night on Arise TV, Adamson expressed satisfaction with the DSS for acting within the confines of its mandate and swiftly challenging in court the legality of Utomi’s shadow government.

Remarked the lawyer, “DSS has a mandate, which includes the detection and prevention of subversion, terrorism, espionage, among others. If one of the mandates of the DSS is to prevent subversion, how do we situate the statement of the erudite professor that he has assembled people who will man what he tagged a shadow cabinet?

“We operate a presidential system of government. The question then should be, is this shadow government known to our Constitution? The DSS has viewed it as an act of subversion aimed at undermining a democratically-elected government.

“Some might ask why the DSS chose a civil suit over a criminal one? My answer is that the DSS has chosen to submit to the courts to determine if the actions and utterances of the reverred Professor can be situated within the confines of the Constitution,” he added, stressing, “this is a civilized way of doing things.”