The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has called on former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, to present himself for questioning over an alleged $14.86m fraud case for which he was declared wanted.
The EFCC’s Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale, made the position known on Monday while responding to allegations by Sylva that the anti-graft agency had become politically aligned with the All Progressives Congress.
“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission,” Oyewale said.
Sylva resigned from the APC on Monday, accusing the party’s leadership of abandoning the principles on which it was founded and criticising the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
In his resignation letter dated August 31, 2026, the former governor deliberately copied the EFCC and accused the commission of increasingly acting “more as an organ of the APC than as an institution of State.”
He said his decision to leave the ruling party followed consultations with his family, associates, colleagues and supporters.
Sylva, who described himself as a founding member of the APC, said he was disappointed by what he called the abandonment of the party’s founding ideals.
He wrote, “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 also accused the party leadership of operating on the belief that “all is fair in politics,” arguing that political considerations should not override morality and decency.
Sylva further said the APC-led Federal Government had disappointed Nigerians and that he could not see a credible effort to reverse what he described as the administration’s shortcomings.
Explaining his decision to copy the EFCC in his resignation letter, he said he was aware that leaving the APC could expose him and his associates to further investigations.
“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 stated.
The EFCC declared Sylva wanted in November 2025 over an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion involving $14,859,257.
The latest summons comes as the former governor also faces legal proceedings over allegations linked to an alleged plot against the Tinubu administration.
Sylva is listed as a defendant in a 13-count charge involving alleged treason, terrorism-related offences, conspiracy and money laundering. He has denied involvement in the alleged plot, and the allegations have not resulted in a conviction.
Investigators have alleged that Sylva was a principal financier of the purported plot and reportedly traced about N785m to him through Purple Waves Limited and a bureau de change operator. More than N5bn was allegedly pooled for the operation.
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. They pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.
The EFCC also obtained an interim forfeiture order in May 2026 covering nine properties allegedly linked to Sylva.
Sylva served as Bayelsa governor from 2007 to 2012 before later becoming Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
