A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered substituted service of court processes on Professor Patrick Okedinachi Utomi in a lawsuit challenging his announced plans to establish a shadow government in Nigeria.

Justice James Omotosho granted the ex-parte motion filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday, allowing court documents to be served on Utomi at his Lagos address through courier service. The court adjourned the case until June 25 for hearing, by which time Utomi is expected to have filed his defense.

The DSS, represented by a legal team led by Akinlolu Kehinde (SAN), instituted the suit on May 13, arguing that the proposed shadow government is not only an aberration but also constitutes a grave attack on the Constitution and poses a threat to the democratically elected government.

In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/937/2025, the DSS expressed concerns that such a structure, if left unchecked, "may 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."

The security agency is seeking several declarations from the court, including that the purported "shadow government" or "shadow cabinet" being planned by Utomi and his associates is "unconstitutional and amounts to an attempt to create a parallel authority not recognized by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended)."

Additionally, the DSS wants a declaration that "under Sections 1(1), 1(2) and 14(2)(a) of the Constitution, the establishment or operation of any governmental authority or structure outside the provisions of the Constitution is unconstitutional, null, and void."

The plaintiff is also seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining Utomi, his agents, and associates "from further taking any steps towards the establishment or operation of a 'shadow government,' 'shadow cabinet' or any similar entity not recognized by the Constitution."

According to court documents, while inaugurating the 'shadow cabinet,' Utomi announced it would include an Ombudsman and Good Governance portfolio to be managed by Dele Farotimi, a Policy Delivery Unit team consisting of several individuals, and a council of economic advisers.

The DSS claims that based on intelligence gathered, "the activities and statements made by the defendant and his associates are capable of misleading segments of the Nigerian public, weakening confidence in the legitimacy of the elected government, and fuelling public disaffection."

The security agency further stated that the Federal Government had made several efforts to engage Utomi to dissuade him from this path, including statements by the Minister of Information, but claimed he has remained defiant.

Utomi, a former presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in 2007, has yet to respond publicly to the court order.