EFCC Calls on Ex-Bayelsa Governor Timipre Sylva to Submit Himself Over Alleged $14.86m Fraud
By Victor Idajili
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has asked former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva to turn himself in, after declaring him wanted over an alleged $14.86 million fraud.
EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale said this on Monday in response to Sylva’s claim that the commission was acting more like an arm of the All Progressives Congress than an independent government agency.
“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission,” Oyewale said.
Sylva announced his resignation from the APC on Monday. In a letter dated August 31, 2026, addressed to his Ward 4 chairman in Brass LGA, Bayelsa State, he said he was leaving after wide consultations with family, allies and supporters.
Copies of the letter were also sent to the APC national chairman, the EFCC chairman, and the APC chairman in Bayelsa.
The former Minister of State for Petroleum said the APC had abandoned the ideals it was founded on and that the Tinubu administration had failed Nigerians.
“As a founding member of the APC, and one who joined other well-meaning Nigerians in building the Party with sweat and money, it is deeply saddening to witness how the ideals we espoused have been so thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted,” he wrote.
“I cannot, in all good conscience, continue to belong to a Party whose leaders believe that ‘all is fair in politics’... The present Government, formed under the banner of the APC we once loved, has disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians.”
Sylva said he was leaving a “floundering ship whose fate appears to have been sealed by its irredeemable load of iniquities,” and expressed hope that voters would “free the country” in the next election.
He also explained why he copied the EFCC.
“I am deliberately putting the EFCC in copy of this letter because, of late, it has conducted itself more as an organ of the APC than as an institution of State. I am fully aware that this action of mine may invite a redoubled witch-hunt against me and my associates, but that is a risk I am willing to take.”
The EFCC declared Sylva wanted in November 2025 over alleged conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257.
He is also named as a defendant, listed as “still at large,” in a 13-count federal charge that includes allegations of treason, terrorism-related offences, conspiracy and money laundering tied to an alleged plot against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Reports say Sylva left Nigeria after details of the investigation became public. Sources say he suspended plans to return after his Abuja home was raided and some associates arrested.
Investigators allege Sylva was a key financier of the plot, accusing him of channeling about N785 million through Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja company. Overall, more than N5 billion was said to have been pooled for the operation. Some of the money traced to Purple Waves was reportedly linked to NDDC contracts and company loans.
Sylva has denied any involvement in the alleged plot. The charges are still before the court and he has not been convicted.
In July 2026, the DSS arraigned five of his associates for allegedly hiding him after he was declared wanted. They pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.
In May 2026, a Federal High Court in Abuja also granted an interim forfeiture order on nine properties linked to Sylva following an EFCC application.
Sylva was Bayelsa governor from 2007 to 2012, with interruptions due to court judgments. He later served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
