By Tolulope Oke
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked former Bayelsa State Governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, to appear before the commission for questioning over an alleged $14.86m fraud case.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, made this known on Monday while responding to Sylva’s claim that the anti-graft agency had become politically influenced following his resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission,” Oyewale said.
Sylva had announced his resignation from the APC earlier on Monday, accusing the ruling party of abandoning the ideals upon which it was founded.
In his resignation letter addressed to the APC chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Sylva said he could no longer remain in a party whose leadership, according to him, had disappointed Nigerians.
He also accused the EFCC of acting more like an organ of the APC than a state institution, adding that he was aware his decision could attract further investigations against him and his associates.
“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,” Sylva wrote.
The EFCC had declared Sylva wanted in November 2025 over allegations of conspiracy and dishonest conversion involving $14,859,257 linked to a refinery project involving Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited.
The former governor has denied wrongdoing and accused the commission of political persecution.
The latest development comes days after Sylva’s resignation from the APC, where he described himself as a founding member who helped build the party.
Timipre Sylva, who served as Bayelsa governor from 2007 to 2012 and later as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari, has also been linked in reports to an alleged plot against the administration of President Bola Tinubu. He has denied involvement, and no conviction has been secured against him over the allegations.
