Offa Bank Robbery: Kwara Govt Drops 18 Charges Against Saraki, Ahmed, Files Two New Charges
In a significant twist in the ongoing legal battle over the 2018 Offa bank robbery, the Kwara State Government has drastically reduced the charges against two former governors, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed, by dropping 18 of the 20 original counts and introducing two fresh charges.
The amended charge sheet, bearing Charge Number KWS/114C/2026 and signed by the Kwara State Attorney General, Senior Ibrahim Sulyman (SAN), was sighted by journalists in Ilorin. The amendment effectively reduces the number of charges against the defendants from 20 to four.
According to the revised charge sheet, Counts 1 and 2 accuse Saraki, Ahmed, Yusuf Abdulwahab and Alabi Olalekan of allegedly conspiring to belong to a gang of thieves and belonging to a gang of thieves.
Counts 3 and 4, meanwhile, accuse the four defendants of allegedly concealing and causing the disappearance of a vehicle said to have been used for an illegal purpose.
The prosecution has also filed a motion on notice seeking the court’s approval of the amended charges. The application, dated November 6, 2026, is supported by a six-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Sulyman Mohammed-Jamiu, a litigation clerk in the office of the Kwara State Attorney General.
The latest development comes amid ongoing legal arguments over whether the trial court can proceed with the defendants’ arraignment while an application for a stay of proceedings remains pending before the Court of Appeal.
At the last sitting of the Kwara State High Court on November 5, 2026, Justice Osuolale Ajayi reserved his ruling on the issue.
Earlier, on November 3, the Court of Appeal had advised J. A. Mumini, SAN, counsel to Abdulfatah Ahmed, to formally file an application requesting an order directing parties before the trial court to maintain the status quo ante bellum. The advice followed an oral submission made by the lawyer.
The appellate court subsequently adjourned the matter to November 12, 2026.
The trial, which commenced in April 2026, has yet to progress to substantive proceedings, as several preliminary legal issues continue to stall the case, with some of the disputes already taken before the appellate court.
Reacting to the prosecution’s latest move, a member of the legal team representing Saraki and Ahmed described the government’s continued efforts to prosecute the former governors as a mockery of the judicial process and an exercise in futility.
Meanwhile, sources familiar with the matter told Vanguard that the prosecution’s difficulties may be connected to two legal opinions issued in 2018 by the Office of the Federal Director of Public Prosecutions under the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
The opinions reportedly followed a review of the police investigation file into the Offa robbery incident. According to the sources, the federal authorities concluded at the time that there was no direct or circumstantial evidence linking Saraki or Ahmed to the robbery.
Despite the latest amendment, the legal battle remains unresolved, with attention now shifting to the pending applications before the courts and the next hearing scheduled for November 12, 2026.
