Hours after dumping APC, EFCC summons Sylva over alleged $14.86m fraud 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has urged former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, who was declared wanted over an alleged $14.86 million fraud, to make himself available for questioning.

The commission’s spokesman, Dele Oyewale, stated this on Monday while reacting to Sylva’s allegation that the anti-graft agency had been conducting itself more as an organ of the All Progressives Congress than as an institution of the state.

“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission,” Oyewale said when asked to respond to the allegation.

Sylva, who served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, announced his resignation from the APC on Monday. He said he had forwarded a copy of his resignation letter to the EFCC, accusing the commission of acting politically.

In the letter dated August 31, 2026, addressed to the APC chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, and copied to the national chairman of the APC, the EFCC chairman, and the Bayelsa APC chairman, Sylva said he quit after consultations with family, associates and colleagues.

“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.

He accused the APC leadership of embracing the belief that “all is fair in politics” and said the Tinubu administration had disappointed Nigerians.

“The present Government, formed under the banner of the APC we once loved, has disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians. And I can see neither a credible attempt nor any possibility of a revamp,” Sylva stated.

“I am therefore left with no other choice than to jettison a floundering ship whose fate appears to have been sealed by its irredeemable load of iniquities.”

Explaining why he copied the EFCC, Sylva accused the commission of becoming increasingly political.

“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,” he wrote.

“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.”

He expressed confidence that Nigerians would use the next general election to “vote for Nigeria” and change the country’s political direction.

The EFCC declared Sylva wanted in November 2025 in connection with an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion involving $14,859,257.

He is also listed as a defendant and described as “still at large” in a 13-count federal charge involving allegations of treason, terrorism-related offences, conspiracy and money laundering arising from an alleged plot against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

Investigators have reportedly identified Sylva as an alleged principal financier of the plot, accusing him of contributing about N785m through Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja-based company. More than N5bn was reportedly pooled for the alleged operation.

Sylva has denied involvement in the alleged plot. The allegations remain subject to judicial proceedings and he has not been convicted.

Multiple reports indicate that Sylva left the country after the investigation became public. Sources said he suspended plans to return to Nigeria after learning of a raid on his Abuja residence and the arrest of some of his associates.

In July 2026, the Department of State Services arraigned five of his associates for allegedly concealing his whereabouts after he was declared wanted. They pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.

In May 2026, the Federal High Court in Abuja granted an interim forfeiture order covering nine properties linked to Sylva following an application by the EFCC.

Sylva served as Bayelsa State governor from 2007 to 2012, with his tenure interrupted by court rulings. He later served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari.