Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has criticised the administration of Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq over criminal charges filed against him and three others by the state government.
Saraki described the action as a “frivolous move” and an “abuse of court process”, alleging that it was intended to embarrass him personally.
The development follows the decision of the Kwara State Government to file a 20-count charge against Saraki and former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, over allegations connected to the arming of suspects convicted in the Offa robbery case.
Other defendants in the case are Yusuf Abdulwahab, a former chief of staff to Ahmed, and Alabi Olalekan, another aide.
The charges were filed at the Kwara state high court in Ilorin, on April 9, 2026.
“That you OLUBUKOLA ABUBAKAR SARAKI, ABDULFATAH AHMED, YUSUF ABDULWAHAB, ALABI OLALEKAN, AYOADE AKINNIBOSUN (now a convict), IBIKUNLE OGUNLEYE (now a convict), ADEOLA ABRAHAM (now a convict), SALAWU AZEEZ (now a convict) and NIYI OGUNDIRAN (now a convict) on or about the 5th day of April, 2018 at Offa, Kwara State, within the Jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, conspired among yourselves to do an illegal act to wit; committed armed robbery at the premises of Guarantee Trust Bank Plc, Offa branch, First Bank of Nigeria Plc Offa branch, Eco Bank Offa branch and Union Bank Plc Offa branch and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 6(b) of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provision) Act. CAP R11 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and Punishable under Section 1(2) of the same Act,” count one reads.
In a statement on Friday, Saraki said his alleged connection with the Offa robbery incident 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”.
The former senate president said the case was investigated by the police team from the office of the inspector-general of police.
Saraki added that two separate legal advices dated June 22nd, 2018, and August 23rd, 2018, from the director of public prosecution (DPP) in the office of the attorney-general 9_ the federation (AGF) “stated that there was no evidence directly or indirectly linking me to the robbery incident”.
“Based on the DPP’s advice, four suspects were charged in court by the Kwara State Government. They were convicted at the trial court and the conviction was upheld by the appellate court. The matter is now before the Supreme Court,” the statement reads.
“Suddenly, the governor woke up after I granted my interview to Channels TV where I commented on the insecurity in the state and thought he could resurrect these baseless charges against his two predecessors.
“I noticed that in his propaganda plan to circulate his frivolous charges and other skewed documents as paid advertisements in the national newspapers, even before serving the defendants, 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 and induce them to give purchased publicity to the frame-up.”
The former senate president accused the Kwara governor of trying to induce families of the Offa robbery incident to initiate civil litigations against him.
Saraki said the Kwara governor did not make progress with the move because the families “backed out”.
“A sitting governor who is accusing his two immediate predecessors of armed robbery is only making a mockery of the institution. He is only taking the governorship of our dear state to the gutter,” Saraki said.
“This is an example of dirty politics taken too far and too low. He ought to know that nobody at the national or state level is buying his claim. He is the butt of a crude joke.
“Many of those involved in the plot to blackmail me with the Offa robbery case have since faced the judgments of the law of karma. I do not doubt that this governor will end up the same way.
“One would have thought that a governor whose state has lost over 400 lives to banditry between January 2025 and March 2026, with over 100 others kidnapped in the worst cases of insecurity since its creation, would concentrate efforts and focus attention on taming the menace by getting the bandits arrested to face justice.”
On April 5, 2018, multiple banks were raided and a police station was attacked in Offa, a town in Kwara state, resulting in 33 fatalities, including a pregnant woman and 12 police officers.
In September 2024, a high court in Kwara found the five defendants guilty of illegal possession of firearms, armed robbery, and culpable homicide.
The defendants are Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salahudeen Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.
In January, the court of appeal upheld the conviction and sentence of the five convicts.
