Saraki could face fresh Offa bank robbery charges after Kwara governor-elect promises to re-open case

SENATE president Senator Bukola Saraki could face fresh prosecution charges over the April 5 2018 Offa bank robbery after new Kwara State governor-elect Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq promised to ensure that the perpetuators are brought to book.

About a year ago, in one of the most daring robberies ever in Nigeria, a group of armed men took Offa by storm, raiding the police station in the town to incapacitate security forces and then proceeded to rob all the major banks. Senator Saraki has been indicted over the robbery after it emerged that some of the gunmen were his thugs and henchmen who acted as his muscle men.

So far, Senator Saraki and several other high ranking associates linked with the robbers have not been charged to court but with his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), losing the recent presidential and Kwara State governorship elections, that could change. On Saturday, Alhaji Abdulrasaq of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the Kwara State gubernatorial elections with 331,546 votes to defeat Abdulrazaq Atunwa of the PDP who polled 114,754 votes.

Having lost his own bid to get re-elected to the senate after being defeated in the Kwara Central senatorial District election, Senator Saraki is looking vulnerable. he no longer has any influence at senatorial, state of federal level and regarded as one of its leading hate figures, there are now fears that the APC leadership may go after the senate president big time.

Alhaji Abduklrasaq noted that Kwara State had become so insecure to the extent that banking operations had been suspended in the entire Kwara South Senatorial District, after the Offa robbery saga. Speaking in Ilorin where he delivered his acceptance speech before APC supporters, he added that the Offa bank robbery matter would be revisited.

“This development is seriously affecting the economic development in the zone, so we will interface with the police to address the challenge of insecurity. The Offa robbery where 33 people were killed, based on police investigation was linked to top government officials.

“We will also interface with the Police to ensure that the judicial process is logically concluded and perpetrators are brought to book. Kwara people have decided and that has put a lot of responsibilities on us, so we cannot afford to fail and we cannot afford to steal and loot the treasury," Alhaji Abdulrazaq added.

In what was a total victory for the APC, the party also won all the 24 seats in the Kwara House of Assembly. Alhaji Abdulrazaq said that with the APC winning over 70% of the votes cast in the elections, Kwarans had spoken and the incoming administration could not afford to fail the people.

He decried the situation where previous administrations had mismanaged and stolen the resources of the state to the detriment of the majority of the citizens. Alhaji Abdulrasaq said that his administration would interface with the people across the three senatorial zones of the state from bottom to top and ensure that the people determine what government would do for them.

Specifically, he said the state would among other crops, increase cashew production and processing for export to create employment and increase internally generated revenue. Alhaji Abdulrazaq also lamented the poor state of infrastructure in public schools in the state as well as non-payment of salaries of teachers and other civil servants and assured to reverse the trend.