The Kwara State Government has arraigned former Senate President Bukola Saraki before a state high court in Ilorin on a single criminal count alleging that he published a defamatory statement about Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on social media and in newspapers, claiming Saraki alleged the governor did not have secondary school education in a manner the prosecution said was capable of causing a breakdown of public peace.
Saraki rejected the characterization of his post as a criminal act, saying through his legal team that he was exercising his constitutional right to free speech as the leader of the opposition in Kwara State and that AbdulRazaq had a pattern of deploying the courts as instruments of harassment and intimidation against opposition figures who commented critically on his administration’s policies and decisions.
During the hearing before Justice M.O. Folorunso, prosecution counsel sought a bench warrant after Saraki did not appear in person, while his counsel Jimoh Mumeen SAN challenged the court’s jurisdiction, arguing the matter belonged before the federal high court rather than the state high court and that service on the defendant was improper. The judge adjourned to July 3 for preliminary objection and arraignment.
Saraki’s team noted the contrast between the government’s energetic pursuit of a social media post and its handling of more pressing matters, pointing to the ongoing captivity of 176 people kidnapped from Woro community in northern Kwara since early February and the broader insecurity affecting two of the state’s three senatorial districts. They said the court action was a diversionary tactic and expressed confidence that the case would fail as previous legal efforts against Saraki had done.
