Utomi: Chasing shadows while you must vote

A lot of things in this country rankle the brain. Well, that’s my country. Perhaps, I am the only one whose brain rankles – on its own – when certain events are reported by news outlets. I might have been feeling better if these things that drive me bananas don’t get to me personally like they don’t get to other Nigerians. I am just curious. The circumstances that led to the tragic, unfortunate shooting of a poor, innocent school boy by a policeman in Ibadan, Oyo State; the heart-rending sight of the helpless, dying boy on the cold, damp floor and the tear-inducing sight were just enough for one day!

But no, not in our country. While the senseless killing of the Ibadan school boy trended, a report by BudgIT surfaced which instantly set the social media public space agog. In the report, the budget-monitoring NGO alleged that perplexing 11,122 projects worth a jaw-dropping N6.9 trillion were smuggled into the 2025 Nigeria’s national budget by the National Assembly. It claimed that these extraneous illegal projects were, in some cases, used to litter the legitimate budgets of some federal ministries and sundry institutions. The revelation is just as lachrymose as the depressing killing of the Ibadan school boy.

There was also that cry by the governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Zulum. He lamented that terrorist Boko Haram sympathisers are everywhere, including in the government and the Nigerian armed forces. The governor had worked very hard to reduce the impact of terrorists in his state. He had tailored everything at his disposal as a governor to assuage Boko Haram and bring terror to the barest minimum in his state. The result? His lamentations as reported recently. Zulum said: “We have informants and collaborators within the Nigerian armed forces, among politicians, and within the communities. What we shall do is strengthen our intelligence and deal with them ruthlessly. Let’s remove contractocracy, in six months, we can put an end to this madness; we need not politicise insecurity.’’

One wonders what Goodluck Jonathan would be thinking about the outburst of Governor Zulum. When he made a similar remark in 2012, he was mocked and derided. Jonathan voiced his lamentation on 8 January, 2012, almost exactly the same way and following the same consequences. He said Boko Haram had infiltrated the armed forces and the police; and that they were in the federal executive as well as parliamentary and legislative arms of government. Zulum might need to look back and recall how he reacted to Goodluck Jonathan’s cry back then. Of course, Zulum was a top man in Borno State in 2012 and was also a commissioner in Kashim Shettima’s government. He was in the state in the time of everything that happened during the period of Jonathan’s lamentation.

So far, what has been the reaction to his contention? What kind of feedback has Governor Zulum received following his allegation? Has there been anything unusual from any of the expected quarters – government or armed forces? Has the National Security Adviser or anybody in the government for that matter reacted to Zulum’s accusation yet? Zulum is even lucky he has not been mocked and derided the way Jonathan was.

These reports, out of many others that are riding the news waves in our country are enough to drive one nuts. They have encumbered the sanity of many worried Nigerians. These pieces of news have overshadowed nearly everything emanating from the office of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun. Edun together with the entire Ministry of Finance has been inspired in telling us how much our economy has been gingered to the top by the administration of Bola Tinubu. But these preceding incidences have outshone all the glittering confetti Edun, IMF and the World Bank have been trying to sprinkle on our psyche with regards to our economy. They know and we know that Nigeria’s micro economy is still in the mud.

One other event, since its advent, has kept the brain in a continuous state of crinkum-crankum – apologies to the Honourable Chief Patrick Obahiagbon. The event in question is the suit filed by the State Security Service (SSS) which is now often referred to as DSS, against Professor Patrick Utomi in court in Abuja. The SSS left out Prof Utomi’s cohorts in their suit, but be sure that they must be watching their every move with a very keen ‘side eye’. Utomi’s offence? The professor said he and some other concerned others had hatched plans to form a shadow government in Nigeria. This, the SSS said, is unconstitutional, is a serious threat to the country and is capable of upsetting the applecart of the government in Nigeria.

SSS told the court that “Utomi, through public statements, social media, and other platforms, has announced the formation of this body with the intent to challenge the legitimacy of the democratically elected government of Nigeria.” In addition, it said based on the intelligence it gathered on Utomi, his activities and the statements made by him 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.” Really? A shadow cabinet is capable of all those? Wow! SSS also contended at the court that Utomi, while inaugurating his ‘shadow cabinet’, “stated that it is made up of the Ombudsman and Good Governance portfolio to be manned by Dele Farotimi; the Policy Delivery Unit Team consisting of OgheneMomoh, ChetaNwanze, Daniel Ikuonobe, Halima Ahmed, David Okonkwo and Obi Ajuga: and the council of economic advisers.” That was how it was reported by a news medium.

Would it not have been easier to tell the SSS that they are chasing shadows with this out and out lawsuit against Utomi rather than watch it waste taxpayers’ money on a case as unworthy as this? At first, it sounded like a funny joke but when it settled in one’s head, it didn’t sound like that anymore. And, when properly analysed, the threat by the SSS isn’t a joke at all. It’s indeed a serious threat to the Nigerian constitution which it said it had gone to court to uphold, and the right of Nigerians.

Then, try to marry the action of the SSS with the vigorous pursuit of the ‘you must vote’ bill by the House of Representatives. Don’t you see that something is off with our ‘democracy’ at the moment? While the SSS or DSS is out there chasing Utomi’s shadow cabinet, members of the House of Representatives are tenaciously fighting to ensure that even if you don’t have to, you must vote. Is it that these lawmakers are bereft of the basic knowledge that exercising voting right is a civic responsibility? Is voting now a legal duty that could be actionable? Could it be that there have been further amendments to the 1999 Constitution which Nigerians are unaware of? It appears that democracy needs a new definition in Nigeria.

The lawmakers are more focused on the politics of what would happen to them and their interests while at the House of Representatives than what would become of Nigeria and Nigerians when they leave the legislature. What if they exert the same energy on achieving a cleaner electoral process that the Nigerian public would trust than this fight for compulsion of voting? What would have been the outlook and the general reaction of Nigerians if our lawmakers had initiated a fight for electoral reforms that would restore confidence in the system? Have they considered the legal implications of such a law to civil liberties and rights?

We are indeed in a strange era in Nigeria. However, it is gratifying that some voices are still heard against these brazen activities. It will be in our annals that while the government through the SSS is chasing a shadow government, the lawmakers are making laws to compel us to vote. We will not forget.

READ ALSO: Much ado about Utomi’s shadow government