Kwara State Government has applied to amend the 20-count criminal charge filed against former Senate President Bukola Saraki and former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed over the 2018 Offa bank robbery, reducing the charges to four.
Gatekeepers News reports that the application, filed at the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin, seeks permission to withdraw 18 of the original counts, including allegations of armed robbery, culpable homicide and illegal possession of firearms.
According to the amended charge dated November 6, 2026, the prosecution retained two allegations bordering on conspiracy to belong to a gang of thieves and belonging to a gang of thieves.
It also introduced two additional counts relating to the alleged concealment or disappearance of a Lexus RX Jeep bearing the inscription ‘SARAKI’ as its registration number.
The charges involve Saraki, Ahmed, Yusuf Abdulwahab, a former Chief of Staff to Ahmed, and Alabi Olalekan, another former aide to the ex-governor.
The prosecution alleged that the defendants conspired to conceal the vehicle, which it claimed was used for an illegal purpose during the robbery.
In its application, the state government argued that the amendment became necessary following an official briefing on the matter. It also maintained that the evidence already attached to the original charge could sustain the revised allegations.
The prosecution further told the court that the defendants were yet to enter their pleas and that the trial had not commenced, arguing that the proposed amendment would not prejudice their defence.
Reacting to the development, Saraki’s media office described the withdrawal of the 18 counts as an admission that the original allegations against the former Senate President and Ahmed were unfounded.
In a statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, the media office accused the Kwara State Government of abusing the judicial process and using the case to tarnish the reputations of the former governors.
It also alleged that the state government had spent close to N100 million publicising its original allegations against the former governors through advertisements in national newspapers.
The media office, however, maintained that Saraki would challenge the remaining charges in court, describing the amended case as another attempt to persecute him.
The development follows the filing of the original 20-count charge on April 9, 2026, over the April 5, 2018, robbery attacks on banks and a police station in Offa, which claimed 33 lives, including 12 police officers.
Five suspects were convicted in September 2024 for offences including armed robbery, illegal possession of firearms and culpable homicide. The Court of Appeal upheld their convictions and sentences in January 2026.
Saraki, who governed Kwara State between 2003 and 2011 before serving as Senate President from 2015 to 2019, has consistently denied any connection with the robbery.
The amended charges are subject to the court’s consideration of the prosecution’s application.
