The Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, has reserved judgment in an appeal seeking the reassignment of the ongoing Offa robbery case involving former Senate President Bukola Saraki, former Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and two former aides to another judge.

The appellate court, presided over by Justice Ridwan Maiwada Abdullahi, reserved judgment on Thursday, November 12, 2026, after hearing arguments from lawyers representing the parties.

The appeal, filed by Alabi Olalekan against the People of Kwara State, with Saraki, Ahmed and Yusuf Abdulwahab listed among the other parties, challenges aspects of the proceedings before the Kwara State High Court.

The appellant is asking the Court of Appeal to direct the Chief Judge of Kwara State to transfer the case to another judge, raising fresh questions about the handling of the criminal proceedings arising from the deadly April 5, 2018, Offa bank robbery.

At Thursday’s sitting, counsel to the appellant, J.A. Mumini (SAN), informed the court about the processes already filed, including the appellant’s brief of argument and pending applications.

However, Mumini withdrew a motion for an interim injunction seeking to restrain the continuation of proceedings at the trial court.

Counsel to the Kwara State Government, Chief R.O. Balogun (SAN), also withdrew the counter-affidavit filed in opposition to the application.

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Following the withdrawals, the appellate court struck out the motion seeking to stop the continuation of the trial.

The proceedings subsequently shifted to the substantive appeal and a preliminary objection filed by the prosecution.

Balogun adopted the preliminary objection filed on November 9, 2026, urging the appellate court to strike out the appeal.

He challenged the appellant’s reliance on a document contained on page 1,146 of the appeal records, arguing that it lacked proper certification, a receipt and the signature and name of the judge who purportedly signed the ruling.

The prosecution counsel also argued that granting the request to transfer the case to another judge would establish a bad precedent.

According to him, the circumstances surrounding the trial court’s decision to order the arraignment of the defendants did not provide sufficient grounds for seeking the reassignment of the case.

He therefore urged the appellate court to dismiss the appeal.

In response, Mumini adopted a counter-affidavit filed on November 11, 2026, opposing the prosecution’s preliminary objection.

He also adopted the appellant’s brief of argument and urged the court to grant the appeal by directing the Chief Judge of Kwara State to reassign the proceedings to another judge.

Counsel representing the other respondents indicated that they had no objection to the appellant’s prayers.

After listening to the arguments, Justice Abdullahi reserved judgment on the substantive appeal.

The latest development adds another layer to the legal complications surrounding the Kwara State Government’s prosecution of Saraki, Ahmed and two former aides over the 2018 Offa robbery.

The case has been characterised by preliminary objections, applications and appeals, delaying the commencement of the substantive trial.

In a related development, the Kwara State Government recently amended its original 20-count charge against the four defendants, dropping 18 counts and retaining two while introducing two additional counts.

The amended four-count charge includes allegations bordering on conspiracy to belong to a gang of thieves, membership of such a gang, and the alleged concealment or disappearance of a vehicle said to have been used for an unlawful purpose.

The development followed the government’s decision to revise the original charges, which had included allegations relating to armed robbery and other offences connected with the deadly incident.

Saraki and the other defendants have not been convicted in the fresh proceedings and remain entitled to the constitutional presumption of innocence.

The Offa bank robbery occurred on April 5, 2018, when armed attackers stormed several commercial banks and a police station in Offa, Kwara State.

The attack resulted in the deaths of several people, including police officers, and became one of the most notorious bank robbery incidents in Nigeria.

Five principal suspects were convicted by a Kwara State High Court in September 2024, with their convictions subsequently upheld by the Court of Appeal.

The fresh proceedings involving Saraki, Ahmed, Abdulwahab and Olalekan are separate from the trial that resulted in those convictions.

The judgment now awaited from the Court of Appeal concerns the request to transfer the fresh proceedings to another judge and the prosecution’s objection to the appeal. It does not determine the guilt or innocence of the four defendants.

The Lagos State Police Command has given owners of seven recovered abandoned vehicles 21 days to come forward with valid documents to claim their property or risk forfeiting them through public auction.

The command said the vehicles were recovered from different locations across the state and are currently in police custody.

In a notice published on Friday, November 13, 2026, the police directed anyone claiming ownership of the vehicles to report to the Ikeja Police Division with relevant documents to establish ownership and facilitate their release.

The recovered vehicles include a Kia Optima with registration number JK349AAA, a Toyota Camry with number plate AAA193GZ and a Suzuki minibus with registration number LSR912YH.

Others are a Toyota Camry with registration number LSR979DL, a Hiace minibus with number plate AAA738YD, a Mazda MPV Space Bus with registration number MUS984DN and a Volkswagen Golf bearing registration number JBD140XA.

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The police warned that the vehicles could be forfeited and sold through auction if their owners failed to establish legitimate ownership within the 21-day period.

The command urged members of the public who had lost vehicles matching the descriptions to take advantage of the opportunity to recover their property.

It also stressed the importance of presenting valid ownership documents to enable proper verification before any vehicle is released.

The latest notice forms part of the Lagos police command’s efforts to identify owners of recovered and abandoned vehicles and address the accumulation of unclaimed property at police facilities across the state.

An Osun State High Court has sentenced two men, Toriola Abel and Adeola Adebowale, to death by hanging for armed robbery, while a Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered Faisal Maina, son of former pension reform boss Abdulrasheed Maina, to serve a seven-year prison sentence for money laundering.

The two separate court decisions were delivered in Osogbo and Abuja amid renewed attention to the prosecution of serious criminal offences and the enforcement of judicial sentences in Nigeria.

In Osogbo, Justice Yinka Aderibigbe of the Osun State High Court sentenced Abel and Adebowale to death by hanging after finding them guilty of conspiracy and armed robbery.

The offences were committed in 2014 around the Kelebe area of Osogbo, the state capital.

The judge, in his ruling on Thursday, held that the prosecution had established the allegations against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.

The prosecution, led by Wuraola Mosunmola, told the court that the convicts conspired with another accomplice, who remains at large, to carry out the robbery.

During the trial, the prosecution presented witnesses and tendered exhibits, including a locally made firearm, which was admitted as evidence.

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However, counsel to the defendants, Ifedayo Olowoyo, appealed to the court for leniency, arguing that his clients were first-time offenders who had spent approximately 12 years in custody since their arrest.

He also told the court that the defendants had demonstrated signs of rehabilitation and deserved an opportunity to rebuild their lives.

Olowoyo particularly disclosed that one of the convicts was a 300-level student of the National Open University of Nigeria, pursuing his university education through correspondence while in detention.

Despite the plea for mercy, Justice Aderibigbe maintained that the applicable law prescribed the death penalty for armed robbery.

The judge consequently sentenced both men to death by hanging.

However, the court recommended that the Osun State Governor consider exercising the prerogative of mercy, noting that no life was lost during the robbery and taking into account the defendants’ conduct during their prolonged detention.

In a separate development in Abuja, Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court ordered that Faisal Maina be committed to a correctional centre to serve his prison sentence for money laundering and failure to make full disclosure of his assets.

The order followed an ex parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), seeking a warrant to enforce the conviction and sentence previously imposed on him.

Faisal, son of Abdulrasheed Maina, former chairman of the defunct Pension Reform Task Team, was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on October 14, 2026, in the Karsana area of Abuja.

His arrest came about six years after he jumped bail and stopped attending court proceedings during his trial.

The EFCC subsequently took him into custody and approached the Federal High Court to secure an order committing him to the Nigeria Correctional Service to serve his outstanding prison term.

Granting the application, Justice Omotosho directed that Faisal serve three years’ imprisonment on count one, seven years on count two and three years on count three.

The judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently, meaning the seven-year term will determine the overall period of imprisonment.

The sentence is to take effect from October 14, 2026, the date of his rearrest.

Faisal was initially arraigned in 2019 on a three-count charge bordering on money laundering and failure to fully disclose his assets in an asset declaration form.

He pleaded not guilty before Justice Okon Abang but subsequently jumped bail, forcing the court to continue the trial in his absence.

On October 7, 2021, Justice Abang convicted him and imposed five years’ imprisonment on counts one and three, and 14 years on count two, with the sentences running concurrently.

The trial judge also ordered his arrest wherever he might be found and directed that he be taken to a correctional centre to serve his sentence.

Faisal challenged the conviction and sentences at the Court of Appeal, which upheld the conviction but reduced the prison terms in its judgment delivered on November 24, 2022.

The appellate court reduced the sentences to three years on counts one and three and seven years on count two.

His father, Abdulrasheed Maina, was also convicted in a separate money laundering case involving approximately ₦2 billion in pension funds. He has since completed his prison sentence.