Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has accused the Kwara State Government of abusing the judicial process after withdrawing 18 of the 20 charges filed against him and former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed over the 2018 Offa bank robbery.
Saraki, through his media office, described the withdrawal as an indication that the allegations against the former governors lacked credible evidence, insisting that the two remaining charges would also fail in court.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday and signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office, the former Senate President said the state government had dropped 18 counts in the original charge sheet, including allegations of armed robbery, the killing of police officers and illegal possession of firearms.
According to the statement, the two remaining charges relate to alleged conspiracy to belong to a gang of thieves and membership of the gang, as well as allegations involving the concealment or disappearance of a vehicle allegedly used for unlawful purposes.
The media office recalled that the first count of the original charge sheet accused Saraki, Ahmed and others of conspiring to carry out armed robberies at branches of Guarantee Trust Bank, First Bank, Ecobank and Union Bank in Offa, Kwara State, on April 5, 2018.
Another count alleged that they participated in the robbery of Zenith Bank’s Offa branch while armed with guns and explosives.
Reacting to the withdrawal, Saraki’s media office said the decision to drop the charges demonstrated that the government had failed to establish any credible connection between the former governors and the robbery.
It stated, “Both charges and 16 others with such ridiculous claims were dropped obviously because the government saw through the futility of the attempts to rope in Saraki and Ahmed and the fact that the charges lack any credible or factual basis.”
The statement further accused Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq’s administration of abusing its prosecutorial powers and undermining the justice system through what it described as politically motivated proceedings.
Saraki’s media office also alleged that the state government had spent nearly N100m advertising its allegations against the former governors in national newspapers earlier in the year, describing the expenditure as a waste of public resources that could have been channelled into development projects.
It further linked the prosecution to political activities ahead of the 2027 general elections, alleging that the charges were intended to damage the reputations of the former governors.
The statement noted that the amended charge sheet came while Saraki was visiting Offa and other communities in Kwara South to campaign for Peoples Democratic Party candidates ahead of the elections.
Despite the withdrawal of 18 counts, the former Senate President said his lawyers would challenge the remaining allegations in court, expressing confidence that the amended case would not withstand judicial scrutiny.
“We want to further reiterate our assurances to members of the public, particularly supporters of Dr Saraki, that he remains unperturbed by the machinations of the Kwara State Government and that just as the earlier charge sheet collapsed like a badly arranged pack of cards, the amended charge will also fail in court,” the statement added.
The 2018 Offa bank robbery, which resulted in the deaths of several people, including police officers, triggered investigations that eventually brought Saraki under scrutiny after some arrested suspects allegedly implicated him.
The police subsequently invited the former Senate President for questioning, but he denied any involvement in the incident and described the allegations as an attempt to implicate him.
The controversy resurfaced in April 2026 when the Kwara State Government filed a fresh 20-count charge against Saraki, Ahmed and two former aides, Yusuf Abdulwahab and Alabi Olalekan, over their alleged involvement in the robbery.
The charges included criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide.
Saraki rejected the allegations, maintaining that legal opinions issued by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation in June and August 2018 had found no evidence linking him to the robbery.
He also accused Governor Abdulrazaq of using the case for political persecution, a claim that further heightened disagreements between the APC and PDP in the state.
