Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has denied any involvement in the 2018 Offa bank robbery in Kwara State, describing fresh criminal charges against him as ill-informed and politically motivated.

“Let me categorically state that I have nothing to do directly or indirectly with any case of armed robbery or any criminal matter, whatsoever,” said Mr Saraki in a statement on Friday. 

The politician alleged that the incident was designed under the late Muhammadu Buhari administration with the connivance of some individuals from Kwara State as an instrument of blackmail to wrestle political power from his group in 2019.

Mr Saraki’s statement came after the Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq-led government filed a 20-count charge against him, ex-governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and two others over the April 2018 robbery which left 33 people, including cops and pregnant woman dead.

The government, in the charge dated April 9, 2026 and tagged KWS/114C/26, accused Messrs Saraki and Ahmed of allegedly supporting and arming suspects linked to the robbery.

A former chief of staff to Mr Ahmed, Yusuf Abdulwahab and another aide, Alabi Olalekan, were also listed as defendants and scheduled for arraignment at the Kwara State High Court in Ilorin on June 4.

The government filed the fresh charges after the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of the principal suspects, including Ayo Akinnibosun, who had confessed during trial to being a hitman of the Saraki’s political dynasty.

According to the government, weapons and other exhibits linked to the crime were recovered from the Government House in 2018 and later tendered in court as evidence during the trial of the principal suspects.

Mr Akinnibosun was said to have also alleged that firearms and a vehicle containing Mr Saraki’s number plate were provided through a government official ahead of political activities in the state.

However, in a statement on Friday, Mr Saraki said the fresh charges were because he criticised Mr Abdulrazaq for failing to contain rising insecurity in the state.

“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 governor stated. 

The politician accused Mr Abdulrazaq of attempts to tarnish his reputation, describing the fresh charges as frivolous and abuse of judicial process.

He added, “Therefore, I am under no illusion that this case was a frivolous move and an abuse of court process to embarrass my person. My legal team will definitely meet this governor in court. I believe that Abdulrahman just feels that he could still use this case to harass and defame my person by abusing the judicial process. 

“He had tried to induce the families of the victims to initiate civil litigations against the other respondents and me, but he seemed not to be making progress with that mischievous effort because the families backed out.”