EFCC Summons Timipre Sylva After He Quits APC, Former Governor Accuses Commission of Witch-Hunt

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has asked former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, to make himself available for questioning after he accused the anti-graft agency of acting like an arm of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale made the position known on Monday while responding to Sylva’s criticism of the commission following his resignation from the ruling party.

Asked about Sylva’s allegation that the EFCC had become an organ of the APC, Oyewale said:

“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission.”

The development followed Sylva’s announcement that he had resigned from the APC after years as a member of the party.

In his resignation letter dated August 31, 2026, the former governor said the ideals upon which the APC was founded had been abandoned and accused the administration of President Bola Tinubu of disappointing Nigerians.

Sylva, who served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari, said he could no longer remain in what he described as a party whose leaders had embraced the belief that “all is fair in politics.”

He also specifically copied the EFCC chairman in his resignation letter, saying the commission had recently conducted itself more like an APC organ than an institution of the Nigerian state.

“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.

He further claimed that leaving the APC could expose him and his associates to what he described as a renewed “witch-hunt”.

The EFCC, however, maintained that Sylva should appear before the commission to answer questions concerning the allegations against him.

The former governor has been wanted by the EFCC since November 2025 over an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion involving $14,859,257. The commission said the money was part of funds invested by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board in Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited for a refinery project.

A Federal High Court in Lagos issued a warrant for Sylva’s arrest on November 6, 2025, authorising law enforcement agencies to bring him before the EFCC for questioning over the allegations. Reuters also reported that the court order empowered the EFCC to detain him for questioning.

The EFCC subsequently declared him wanted after he failed to make himself available to the commission. The agency later rejected claims that the action was politically motivated, saying Sylva had been under investigation and was on administrative bail.

Sylva’s latest political move also comes against the background of an ongoing security investigation in which he has been listed as a defendant in a 13-count federal charge linked to an alleged plot against the Tinubu administration. He has denied involvement in the alleged plot, and the allegations remain before the courts.

Earlier reporting by Premium Times alleged that investigators identified Sylva as one of the alleged financiers of the plot and linked about ₦785 million to him through Purple Waves Limited. The report said investigators were examining the movement of more than ₦5 billion allegedly assembled for the operation.

Sylva’s resignation letter did not indicate that he had abandoned the legal or investigative processes surrounding the allegations. Instead, he criticised the government’s political direction and said he expected Nigerians to use the 2027 general election to change the country’s political leadership.

His resignation from the APC and the EFCC’s renewed call for him to appear before the commission have therefore brought his political break with the ruling party into sharper focus, while the financial and security allegations against him remain unresolved.