The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has asked former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, to make himself available for questioning over an alleged $14.86m fraud case.
The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, made the call on Monday while responding to Sylva’s claim that the anti-graft agency had become more of an organ of the All Progressives Congress than an institution of the state.
“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission,” Oyewale said.
Sylva was declared wanted by the EFCC in November 2025 over an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion involving $14,859,257.
The development came on the same day the former governor announced his resignation from the APC, accusing the ruling party of abandoning the principles on which it was founded.
Sylva said he had copied the EFCC in his resignation letter because of what he described as the commission’s increasing politicisation.
In the letter dated August 31, 2026, and addressed to the APC chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, the former governor said his decision followed consultations with his family, associates, colleagues and supporters.
He described the APC as a “floundering ship” whose fate, in his view, had been sealed by what he called its “irredeemable load of iniquities.”
“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 said.
Sylva further accused the party’s leaders of operating on the belief that “all is fair in politics”, arguing that such a principle was inconsistent with basic decency and morality.
He also took aim at the administration of President Bola Tinubu, saying the APC-led Federal Government had disappointed many 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.
He said he had therefore decided to leave the party in the hope that Nigerians would use the next election to change the political direction of the country.
“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,” he said.
Why Sylva copied EFCC
Explaining why he sent a copy of his resignation letter to the EFCC, Sylva alleged that the commission had increasingly acted like an arm of the APC.
“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.
He said he was aware that his resignation could lead to further investigations against him and his associates, but added that he was prepared to take the risk.
Sylva’s resignation came amid a separate investigation into an alleged plot against the Tinubu administration.
The former governor is listed as a defendant and described as “still at large” in a 13-count Federal High Court charge involving allegations of treason, terrorism-related offences, conspiracy and money laundering arising from the alleged plot.
Sylva has denied involvement in the alleged plot, and the allegations remain before the court. He has not been convicted.
Investigators have alleged that Sylva was a principal financier of the plot and accused him of contributing about N785m through Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja-based company.
More than N5bn was reportedly traced as having been pooled for the alleged operation, with about N785m linked to Purple Waves and a bureau de change operator before the funds were allegedly distributed.
Investigators also reportedly linked money paid into Purple Waves to proceeds from contracts awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission and loans obtained by the company.
Associates arraigned
In July 2026, the Department of State Services arraigned five of Sylva’s associates for allegedly concealing his whereabouts after he was declared wanted in connection with the alleged plot.
The five defendants pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.
Earlier, 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.
Multiple reports had earlier indicated that Sylva left Nigeria after the investigation into the alleged plot became public.
Sources familiar with the investigation also said he suspended plans to return after learning of a raid on his Abuja residence and the arrest of some of his associates.
Sylva served as Bayelsa State governor from 2007 to 2012, although his tenure was interrupted by court rulings.
He later served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
