A Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin yesterday declined an application asking it to withdraw from the trial of suspects in the Offa robbery incident and return the case to the chief judge, ruling that the applicant did not show sufficient grounds for recusal and reassignment.
The case, presided over by Justice Olalekan Ajayi, involves a former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, former governor of the state, Abdulfatah Ahmed, his former chief of staff, Yusuf Abdulwahab, and his former political aide, Alabi Olalekan.
In a motion on notice by the defence lawyers, led by Mr Kamaldeen Ajibade, SAN, counsel to Saraki had alleged a likelihood of bias, pointing to the court’s earlier involvement with the facts of a civil suit arising from the same subject matter.
The counsel argued that, while Saraki and Ahmed are the first and second defendants in the present criminal proceedings, they were the third and fourth defendants in the civil matter, with the principal issues for determination in the civil suit substantially intertwined with the allegations that were yet to be determined in the instant criminal charge.
However, after reviewing the application, the supporting affidavit and counter-affidavit, the court struck out certain paragraphs of both affidavits for failing to comply with Section 115 of the Evidence Act, which governs affidavit evidence.
Applying the test set out by the Supreme Court in Sifax Nig. Ltd v. Phoenix Capital Ltd, the court also held that, in particular, the applicant did not show how the court’s continued hearing of the charge would create real or apparent bias in the eyes of a reasonable and informed observer.
Consequently, the court raised, suo motu (of its own accord), the question of whether the trial had already commenced. It then adjourned the matter to November 5, 2026, to allow the parties to address it on that point.
Saraki and others were allegedly linked to the case, with reports saying that the victims of the Offa robbery later sued the Kwara State Government and Ahmed in civil proceedings, arguing that Saraki and Ahmed should be prosecuted.
Recall that the 2018 legal advice by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF) exonerated Saraki pf any complicity in the Offa robbery saga.
The investigation into the April 5, 2018, bank robbery in Offa, according to the DPPF, did not disclose any collaborative evidence linking the former governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s Chief of Staff, Yusuf Abdulwahab, to the attack.
The letter addressed to the Inspector General pf Police (IGP), for the special attention of his legal adviser (then) AIG Igbodo David, titled: Re: investigation reportedly on the 5th April, 2018 multiple bank robberies, attacks on police station, and murder of 31 persons including nine police officers in Offa, Kwara State: the case of aiding and abetting, crime/accessory after the fact as part of the legal review of the investigation into the robbery saga.
The letter, signed by Mohammed U. E., the DPPF, outlined the office’s findings and recommendations on the prosecution of suspects connected with the incident.
On the former Senate President Bukola Saraki, the DPPF said it was unable to establish a prima facie case against him for criminal conspiracy, armed robbery or culpable homicide. It said there was no departure from its earlier findings in the interim report.
