Anti-graft agency responds after former Bayelsa governor quits APC and accuses commission of political witch-hunt.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has urged former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, to make himself available for questioning after declaring him wanted over an alleged $14.86 million fraud.
EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, gave the directive on Monday while responding to Sylva’s allegation that the commission had allegedly become an organ of the All Progressives Congress (APC) rather than an institution of the state.
“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission,” Oyewale said.
Sylva announced his resignation from the APC on Monday, saying the party had abandoned the ideals on which it was founded and that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration had disappointed Nigerians.
In his resignation letter, addressed to the APC chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Sylva said he could no longer remain in a party whose leaders allegedly believed that “all is fair in politics.”
The former governor also criticised the EFCC, explaining that he deliberately copied the commission in his resignation letter because of what he described as its increasingly political conduct.
“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 said he was aware that his resignation could trigger what he described as a “redoubled witch-hunt” against him and his associates but insisted that he was willing to take the risk.
The EFCC declared Sylva wanted in November 2025 over an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion involving $14,859,257.
His latest political move also comes amid allegations linking him to an alleged plot against the President Tinubu administration. Sylva is listed as a defendant in a 13-count federal charge involving alleged treason, terrorism-related offences, conspiracy and money laundering. He has denied involvement in the allegations and has not been convicted.
In May 2026, the Federal High Court in Abuja granted an interim forfeiture order covering nine properties allegedly linked to Sylva following an application by the EFCC.
Sylva served as Bayelsa State governor from 2007 to 2012 and later became Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari.
His resignation from the APC and the EFCC’s renewed call for him to appear for questioning have further heightened attention around the former governor’s legal and political battles.