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Lawyers to former Senate president, Bukola Saraki, yesterday, appeared in the Kwara State High to defend him against the criminal defamation and cyberbullying suit slammed against him by the state governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
The governor alleged that Saraki’s social media post on April 17, in response to an earlier statement by the state government attacking his reputation, constituted criminal defamation and cyberbullying against him.
The Governor’s main complaint was that by questioning his educational qualification in the social media post, Dr Saraki’s statement was capable of causing a breakdown of public peace in the state. The government’s lawyers in their argument before Justice M. O. Folorunso requested a bench warrant and court order to compel Saraki to appear before the court.
However, Saraki’s lawyers contended that the court process were improperly filed by the prosecution, that the high court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter, the essence of which goes to the root of the entire case, and that Saraki’s post on Facebook and X being complained of were mere exercise of his freedom of speech and right of reply, as the leader of the opposition to the Governor’s political party.
After listening to both sides, the court adjourned the matter to July 3, 2026 to give its ruling on the applications by both parties.
We note that it is a recurring decimal for the Kwara Governor to seek to use the courts to harass and intimidate the leaders of opposition in the state any time they make any comment against the policies and actions of his administration. We believe that like his earlier efforts to abuse the judicial process to silence the opposition, this case will fall like a pack of badly arranged cards.
A statement by Saraki’s Press Officer on Local Matters, Abdulkadir Abdulganiy said: “We note that the Kwara State government believes the alleged defamatory social media post deserves more attention than the issue of acute insecurity plaguing the state in which two of the three senatorial districts in the state have become a den of kidnappers, bandits and insurgents.
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“Also, the case of 176 people kidnapped from Woro community in the northern part of the state who have been in captivity since early February is taking a back seat behind the issue of a social media post which the governor’s handlers believed was unpleasant to him
“Today, we noticed that the governor and his handlers mobilised the media and their supporters to the court premises. We believe the energy and resources deployed to achieve that could have been better utilised as part of the resources to secure the release of the captives in the kidnappers’ den across the state.
“We have mentioned these more sensitive alternatives that require the attention of Governor Abdulrazaq and his government instead of dissipating resources on the impact of words that he exchanged with the opposition leader in the state to demonstrate that the court case is just another diversionary tactic.
“Dr Saraki continues to retain his confidence in the Nigerian judiciary and its ability to do justice to all parties, in all cases and situations. That is why his lawyers will also continue to defend his position and strongly put forward his case before the court on all matters, including this case arising from a social media post.
“Dr Saraki hereby appeals to his supporters across the state and beyond to remain calm and law-abiding. The former Senate President will also want to assure all his supporters and members of the public that all these oppressive tactics aimed at intimidating and silencing him will come to nought. He will not keep quiet when there are issues of public interest that deserve his comment.
“Dr Saraki will also want his supporters to know that Abdulrazaq’s oppressive tendencies are mere inconveniences that will soon blow away. This is because the administration has only 11 months to stay in office and the tendency that it represents will be totally eradicated in Kwara State by the people.”
