Eminent lawyers have commended the Department of State Security, DSS, for embracing civility rather than brute force in challenging the legality of the shadow government touted by a former presidential candidate, Prof. Pat Utomi.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Adamson Adeboro said the civil action option embraced by the secret police was a departure from the past and within the confines of its mandate.
A former attorney-general of the federation, who chose to remain anonymous, described the DSS as the principal domestic intelligence agency of the Federal Government of Nigeria. “It is legally mandated to prevent and detect five major threats against the internal security of Nigeria, namely espionage, insurgency, subversion, sabotage, and terrorism. Subversion, simply put, is any attempt to undermine a legitimate government”, said the Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
He praised the prompt response of the DSS which has rightly considered as subversive the formation of a shadow government by Professor Utomi, “because it is a direct attack on the Nation’s Constitution, aimed at undermining a democratically elected government.”
Speaking Sunday night on Arise TV, Adeboro 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.
“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 revered professor can be situated within the confines of the Constitution,” he added, stressing, “this is a civilized way of doing things.”
Also Read: DSS sues Utomi for planning to create chaos
Adamson said the pronouncement of Utomi may with time snowball into chaos and anarchy, with the potential to disrupt the nation’s internal security. He argued that MASSOP, ESN and IPOB all began with seemingly innocuous statements by citizens who touted fundamental right to free speech.
He said there was nothing wrong in asking the Court to interpret the action of Prof Utomi vis a vis the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Former aide to President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri described Utomi’s shadow government as an act of treason. He expressed surprised that Utomi, who was an aide to President Shehu Shagari, failed to realize that presidential democracies do not have room for shadow governments by whatever form or shape.
“Forming a shadow government under a presidential system of government is treason. You cannot try it in the United States. And by Section 1 (2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:
‘The Federal Republic of Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any persons or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.’
“You do not form a shadow government in a presidential system of government because a presidential system is a republican democracy, meaning that the president is both head of state and head of government,” declared Omokri.
Credible News recalls that 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.
Crediblenewsng.com
