Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has criticised AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq over fresh criminal charges filed against him, describing the move as “frivolous” and an abuse of court process.
Gatekeepers News reports that the Kwara State Government recently filed a 20-count charge before a state high court in Ilorin against Saraki and former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, alleging their involvement in arming suspects convicted in the 2018 Offa robbery.
Other defendants include Yusuf Abdulwahab, a former chief of staff, and Alabi Olalekan, an aide. The charges, filed on April 9, 2026, also referenced individuals already convicted over the robbery.
The charge sheet alleged that the defendants conspired to commit armed robbery on April 5, 2018, targeting multiple banks in Offa, including branches of Guarantee Trust Bank, First Bank, Ecobank, and Union Bank.
‘Efforts to Mislead the Public’
In a statement issued on Friday, Saraki rejected any link to the crime, claiming the allegations were politically motivated.
He said his purported connection to the Offa robbery was “designed under the Buhari administration with the connivance of some individuals from Kwara State as an instrument of blackmail to seize political power from our group in 2019.”
According to him, investigations conducted by a police team from the office of the inspector-general of police, alongside two legal advisories from the director of public prosecution (DPP) dated June 22 and August 23, 2018, found no evidence linking him to the incident.
“The DPP’s advice… stated that there was no evidence directly or indirectly linking me to the robbery incident,” Saraki said.
He added that based on that advice, four suspects were prosecuted, convicted at trial, and their convictions upheld on appeal, with the matter now before the Supreme Court.
Saraki accused the governor of reviving the allegations after a recent interview in which he commented on insecurity in the state.
“I noticed that in his propaganda plan… he intentionally hid the DPP reports and other documents which put a lie to the charade he is perpetuating. These are deliberate efforts to mislead the media,” he said.
He further alleged that the state government attempted to persuade families of victims of the Offa robbery to file civil suits against him, but the effort failed as they declined.
“A sitting governor who is accusing his two immediate predecessors of armed robbery is only making a mockery of the institution,” Saraki said.
“This is an example of dirty politics taken too far and too low.”
The Offa Robbery
The controversy stems from the April 5, 2018 attack in Offa, Kwara State, where multiple banks and a police station were targeted, leaving 33 people dead, including a pregnant woman and 12 police officers.
In September 2024, a Kwara State High Court convicted five suspects — Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez, and Niyi Ogundiran — on charges including armed robbery, illegal possession of firearms, and culpable homicide.
The Court of Appeal upheld the convictions in January, reinforcing earlier findings.
