Kwara Govt Drops 18 Counts in Offa Robbery Case Against Saraki, Former Governor Ahmed
The Kwara State Government has moved to significantly reduce the criminal charges against former Senate President Bukola Saraki and ex-governor Abdulfatah Ahmed over the 2018 Offa bank robbery, seeking the court’s approval to replace the original 20-count charge with a four-count amended version.
The application, filed before the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on November 6, retains allegations of conspiracy to belong to a gang of thieves and membership of a gang of thieves. It also introduces two counts accusing the defendants of conspiring to conceal and subsequently concealing a Lexus RX Jeep with the inscription ‘SARAKI’ as its number plate.
Two former aides to Ahmed, Yusuf Abdulwahab and Alabi Olalekan, are also listed as defendants in the proposed amended charge.
In the first count, the prosecution alleged that Saraki, Ahmed, their two former aides and five individuals already convicted in connection with the robbery conspired to belong to a gang of thieves on April 5, 2018, in Ilorin.
The second count accuses the same nine individuals of membership of a gang of thieves, an offence under Section 306 of the Kwara State Penal Code, 2006.
The third allegation centres on the Lexus RX Jeep, with the prosecution claiming that the defendants conspired to make the vehicle disappear or conceal it, despite allegedly knowing that it had been used for an unlawful purpose during the Offa robbery.
The fourth count specifically accuses Saraki, Ahmed, Abdulwahab and Olalekan of concealing or causing the disappearance of the vehicle, contrary to Section 167 of the Penal Code.
The five previously convicted persons named in the first three counts are Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibikunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawu Azeez and Niyi Ogundiran.
The proposed amendment removes 18 allegations contained in the original charge, including claims of armed robbery, the killing of police officers and unlawful possession of firearms.
The initial 20-count charge was filed on April 9, 2026.
Explaining its decision to seek the amendment, the prosecution said an official briefing on the case prompted the introduction of the two additional counts.
In its motion, the state government argued that the amendment would not disadvantage the defendants because they had neither entered their pleas nor proceeded to trial.
“The defendants/respondents are yet to take their pleas and hearing/trial is yet to commence,” the motion stated.
The prosecution further maintained that the evidence already submitted with the original charge was adequate to support the revised allegations and urged the court to grant its request.
Saraki’s media office has criticised the move, arguing that the decision to abandon 18 of the original charges reinforces its position that the case against the former Senate President and Ahmed was baseless from the outset.
In a statement signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, the office accused the Kwara State Government of exploiting the judicial process to tarnish the reputations of the two former governors.
It described the withdrawal of the allegations as evidence that “there was no case against these gentlemen from the beginning”.
The media office also alleged that the prosecution was politically motivated, insisting that the revised charge represented “a further attempt to abuse the judicial process”.
It claimed that the state government had spent close to N100 million in public funds placing newspaper advertisements to promote the original allegations against Saraki and Ahmed.
Despite its criticism, the former Senate President’s media office said he would challenge the new charges in court.
“Even these newly filed charges will be contested and at the end of the day the public will see that all attempts to demonise, persecute, and blackmail Dr. Saraki will fail,” the statement said.
