The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and ex-Bayelsa State Governor, Chief Timipre Sylva, wanted over an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257.
According to the EFCC, the money was part of the funds invested by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited for a refinery project in Bayelsa State.
Sylva has, however, dismissed the allegations, calling them a political witch-hunt and claiming the EFCC did not follow due process before declaring him wanted.
In a statement released by EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, the agency revealed it secured a warrant for Sylva’s arrest on November 6 from the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. Justice D. I. Dipeolu granted the order authorising any law enforcement officer to arrest Sylva and bring him before the commission for questioning.
The anti-graft agency’s probe also involves the former NCDMB Executive Secretary, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote, who was questioned over alleged mismanagement of funds linked to the Brass Project.
Earlier, EFCC had arrested the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, Mr. Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering, and diversion of public funds. Akindele, who initiated the refinery project in Bayelsa, reportedly received $35 million from NCDMB in December 2020 to develop a 2,000-barrel-per-day refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre, and tank farm at the Brass Free Trade Zone.
Investigators claim that despite the huge funding, the project has made little or no progress. EFCC’s preliminary findings further revealed that during Wabote’s tenure from 2016 to 2023, NCDMB financed at least 17 projects, including the Brass Energy Park project currently under investigation. Sylva was Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from 2019 to 2023, during which time the refinery project was reviewed.
Reacting to the EFCC’s declaration, Sylva’s media aide, Julius Bokoru, faulted the commission’s approach, saying it was done “without proper communication” and amounted to a “digital ambush” aimed at tarnishing his principal’s image.
Bokoru described the allegations as politically motivated, saying, “It is curious that what was once whispered in corridors as a coup matter has now quietly turned into a financial allegation. Those who sought to criminalise Sylva politically now pose as fiscal crusaders.”
He maintained that Sylva had clean hands and would honour any lawful invitation by the EFCC, adding that the former minister was currently undergoing medical check-ups in the United Kingdom.
Bokoru urged Sylva’s supporters to remain calm, insisting that “the truth will prevail and those behind this smear campaign will not succeed.”
