The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, to make himself available for questioning after the anti-graft agency declared him wanted over an alleged $14.86 million fraud.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, made the statement on Monday while responding to Sylva’s allegation that the commission had increasingly conducted itself as an organ of the All Progressives Congress (APC) rather than as a state institution.
“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission,” Oyewale said.
Sylva announced his resignation from the APC on Monday, saying he had forwarded a copy of his resignation letter to the EFCC as part of his decision to leave the ruling party.
In the letter addressed to the APC chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, and copied to the party’s national chairman, the EFCC chairman and the APC chairman in Bayelsa, Sylva accused the party of abandoning the principles on which it was founded.
The former governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources said his decision followed consultations with his family, associates, colleagues and supporters.
He described the APC as a “floundering ship” and said he could no longer remain in a party whose leaders, in his view, had embraced the notion that “all is fair in politics.”
Sylva also criticised the administration of President Bola Tinubu, arguing that the APC-led Federal Government had disappointed the majority of Nigerians.
He said he saw neither a credible attempt nor the possibility of a meaningful change in the direction of the administration.
Explaining why he copied the EFCC in his resignation letter, Sylva accused the commission of becoming increasingly politicised.
“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.
Sylva acknowledged that his resignation could potentially lead to further scrutiny of him and his associates but said it was a risk he was prepared to take.
The EFCC declared Sylva wanted in November 2025 over an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion involving $14,859,257.
The former governor has also been linked to an alleged plot against the Tinubu administration. He is listed as a defendant in a 13-count federal charge involving allegations including treason, terrorism-related offences, conspiracy and money laundering. He has denied involvement in the alleged plot, and the allegations remain subject to judicial proceedings.
Investigators have reportedly accused Sylva of being a principal financier of the alleged operation, with about N785 million allegedly traced through Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja-based company. The claims are part of ongoing legal proceedings, and Sylva has not been convicted.
In May 2026, the Federal High Court in Abuja granted an interim forfeiture order covering nine properties allegedly linked to Sylva following an application by the EFCC.
Sylva served as Bayelsa State governor from 2007 to 2012 before later becoming Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
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