Timipre Sylva Reacts After EFCC Declared Him Wanted Over Alleged $14.8m Refinery Fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and ex-Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, wanted over an alleged $14.86 million fraud.

In a statement on Monday night, the EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, said Sylva is being investigated for conspiracy and the alleged unlawful diversion of funds belonging to the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).

Oyewale said the money was part of NCDMB’s investment in Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, a project meant to build a modular refinery aimed at boosting Nigeria’s refining capacity and promoting local participation in the oil sector.

A Federal High Court in Lagos, presided over by Justice D.I. Dipeolu, issued a warrant for Sylva’s arrest on November 6, 2025.

The court order directed the EFCC, police, or any law enforcement agency to arrest him and bring him before the commission to answer the allegations.

The EFCC urged members of the public with information about his whereabouts to contact its zonal offices, the nearest police station, or other security agencies.

The statement read, “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has declared a former Minister of Petroleum Resources and former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva wanted.

“Sylva is wanted in connection with an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257(Fourteen Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty Nine Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifty Seven United States Dollars), being part of funds injected by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited for the construction of a Refinery.

“The commission, on November 6, 2025 secured a warrant for the arrest of the former Minister at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.

“The Order, granted by Justice D.I. Dipeolu stated that, ‘an order is made issuing a warrant to the Applicant or any Officer of the Commission, Police or any law enforcement officer for the arrest of the respondent for the purpose of bringing him before the Commission to answer to the criminal offence he is alleged to have committed.

“The Commission also enjoins anyone with useful information on his whereabouts to contact any of its Zonal Directorates across the country or the nearest Police Station and other security agencies.”

Timipre Sylva, who served as Minister from 2019 to 2023 and contested in the 2023 Bayelsa governorship election under the All Progressives Congress (APC), has denied the allegations.

In a statement issued by his media aide, Julius Bokoru, the former minister described the EFCC’s move as politically motivated.

He said the announcement of his wanted status on social media without prior communication showed a clear attempt to damage his reputation.

Bokoru argued that the accusations were part of a broader political campaign to tarnish Sylva’s image, adding that the former governor remains a target due to his political influence.

He also stated that Sylva would honor the EFCC’s invitation after completing his ongoing medical check-up in the United Kingdom.

“The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday took to social media to announce, quite unceremoniously, that it had declared Chief Timipre Sylva wanted.

“No formal communication was extended to him, no established protocol observed, only a sudden digital proclamation designed, it would seem, to inflame public sentiment and manufacture yet another episode of orchestrated hostility.

“It is, to say the least, curious that what was once whispered in corridors as a ‘coup matter’ has now quietly metamorphosed into a financial allegation.

“The same shadowy forces that once sought to criminalise Sylva politically now appear to have reinvented themselves as fiscal crusaders.

“There must, undoubtedly, be an explanation for this cinematic transition from rumour to reinvention, from one carefully scripted accusation to another.

“Chief Timipre Sylva remains, without equivocation, the target of a coordinated and calculated political onslaught.

“His recent travails bear an uncanny resemblance to the trials of Job in Holy Scripture, each ordeal arriving with near-mathematical precision, each accusation discredited only for another to appear.

“These are no coincidences; they are the deliberate machinations of those who dread Sylva’s enduring political relevance and moral resolve.

“For clarity, I have not been in direct communication with Chief Sylva. However, from available information and from prior official briefings, it is important to restate that Chief Sylva will, in line with his respect for lawful institutions and due process, honour the invitation of the EFCC once he concludes his ongoing medical check-up in the United Kingdom.

“At this stage, one might jest that only the Boys’ Brigade of Nigeria and the Man’O’War remain uninvited to this theatre of persecution.

“The desperation to sully Sylva’s name knows no restraint—its sponsors are zealous, its intentions transparent, and its malice unmistakable. Yet, let it be categorically stated: Chief Timipre Sylva has clean hands.

“He has not diverted a single dollar, nor has he betrayed the trust reposed in him by the Nigerian people.

“The refinery project in question is a legitimate, transparent, and verifiable undertaking—subject to due process and traceable documentation.

“To our friends, allies, and well-wishers: this, too, shall pass. Truth, though often delayed, remains immutable. It neither bows to propaganda nor perishes in the tumult of falsehood.

“Those engineering this relentless campaign of defamation will not prevail for light, by its very nature, must always outshine darkness,” Bokoru stated.

KanyiDaily recalls that the APC alleged plot by Governor Douye Diri to frame Timipre Sylva with corrupt charges using the EFCC.