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 admission 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 on Monday and signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu of the Abubakar Bukola Saraki Media Office in Abuja, 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.

The two retained charges reportedly accuse Saraki and Ahmed of conspiring to belong to a gang of thieves and belonging to such a gang. They also include allegations relating to the concealment or disappearance of a vehicle allegedly used for illegal purposes.

The media office said the government had previously attempted to arraign the former governors before subsequently amending the charge sheet.

The original charges included allegations that Saraki, Ahmed and others conspired 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 accused them of robbing a Zenith Bank branch in the town while armed with guns and explosives.

Reacting to the withdrawal, Saraki’s media office said, “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.”

It further accused the administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of abusing its prosecutorial powers and undermining the justice system.

“The amendment to the charge sheet only reveals that there was no case against these gentlemen from the beginning and what the state government is indulging in is abuse of powers, a travesty of the justice system, and mockery of the prosecutorial powers of the state,” the statement added.

The media office also alleged that the state government had spent close to ₦100m advertising its accusations against the former governors in national newspapers earlier in the year.

It described the expenditure as a waste of public funds, arguing that the money could have been channelled into public projects.

Saraki’s camp further alleged that the charges were politically motivated and intended to damage the reputations of the former governors ahead of the 2027 elections.

It linked the amendment of the charge sheet to Saraki’s recent political activities in Offa and other communities in Kwara South, where he was campaigning for Peoples Democratic Party candidates.

The media office, however, maintained that Saraki’s lawyers would challenge the remaining charges in court.

“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 because they are claims that cannot withstand the slightest judicial scrutiny,” the statement said.

The 2018 Offa bank robbery, which left several people dead, including police officers, led to investigations in which some arrested suspects reportedly implicated Saraki. The former Senate President denied any connection with 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. The charges included criminal conspiracy, armed robbery and culpable homicide.

Saraki rejected the allegations, maintaining that two legal opinions issued by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation in June and August 2018 found no evidence linking him to the robbery.

He has also accused Governor Abdulrazaq of using the case for political reasons and to embarrass his predecessors.