..As Aide Says Declaration Is Politically Motivated
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday declared former governor of Bayelsa State and immediate past Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, wanted in a public Notice it shared online.
Specifically, the anti-graft agency alleged that Sylva was wanted in alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion of over $14 million.
The public Notice, signed by the EFCC Head, Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, reads: “The public is hereby notified that TIMIPRE SYLVA, a former Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, and former Governor of Bayelsa Staate, whose photograph appears above is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in an alleged case of Conspiracy and Dishonest Conversion of $14,859,257 – part of funds injected by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited for the construction of Refinery.
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“Syla, 61, is from Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
“this notice is pursunt to a November 6, 2025 warrant of the Lagos State High Court.
“Anybody with useful information as to his whereabouts should please contact the Commission in its Ibadan, Uyo, Sokoto, Maiduguri, Benin, Makurdi, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Gombe, Port Harcourt or Abuja Ofiices or through 08093322644, its email address: info@efcc.gov.ng or the nearest Police Station and other security agencies”, it added.
However, the Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs to the former minister, Julius Bokoru, has reacted to the commission’s declaration him as wanted as part of a politically motivated campaign.
The media aide described the EFCC’s announcement as a digital proclamation aimed at stirring public hostility against Sylva, claiming that the former minister has not been formally informed by the EFCC of the need for him to come for interrogation before the notice was made public.
He stated: Bokoru said: “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 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 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 assured.
