Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and ex-Governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, has accused unnamed political opponents of orchestrating a “relentless theatre of persecution” following his declaration as wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Julius Bokoru, Sylva described the EFCC action as politically driven and procedurally improper, alleging that the agency failed to notify him before making a public declaration.
“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,” Bokoru said.
“These are no coincidences; they are deliberate machinations of those who dread Sylva’s enduring political relevance and moral resolve. No formal communication was extended to him, no established protocol observed, only a sudden digital proclamation designed to inflame public sentiment and manufacture yet another episode of orchestrated hostility.”
Sylva insisted he had not diverted any public funds and maintained that the refinery project under investigation — the Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, was legitimate and transparent.
“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 statement read.
“The refinery project is a legitimate, transparent, and verifiable undertaking, subject to due process and traceable documentation. Those engineering this relentless campaign of defamation will not prevail.”
The EFCC declared Sylva wanted for alleged conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257, reportedly part of funds injected by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited.
In a notice signed by Dele Oyewale, Head of Media and Publicity, the Commission alleged that Sylva and others diverted portions of the investment for personal use. A warrant for his arrest was issued on November 6, 2025, by Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court, Lagos.
The court order authorised law enforcement agencies to arrest Sylva and bring him before the EFCC “to answer to the criminal offence he is alleged to have committed.”
The EFCC urged members of the public with useful information on Sylva’s whereabouts to contact its zonal offices, the police, or other security agencies.
Meanwhile, at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the EFCC’s fourth prosecution witness in the separate alleged N80.2 billion fraud case involving former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello reaffirmed that withdrawals made by the state government did not violate any banking regulation.
Under cross-examination before Justice Emeka Nwite, Mshelia Arhyel Bata, a compliance officer with Zenith Bank, confirmed that Sylva’s name did not appear as a beneficiary in any of the accounts tendered in evidence.
Defence counsel Joseph Daudu (SAN) pointed out that some withdrawals by one Umar Comfort Olufunke were omitted from the prosecution’s presentation. The prosecution had focused on withdrawals by Abdulsalam Hudu, cashier of the Kogi Government House, made between December 2017 and April 2018.
The witness also confirmed withdrawals by one Alhassan Omakoji between November 2021 and December 2022, all within the CBN’s transaction limits. He stated that he was unaware of any law regulating how the Kogi State Government spends its funds.
The prosecution counsel, Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), declined further re-examination, and the witness was discharged. At the previous hearing, the witness had also confirmed that Bello was not a signatory to the accounts in question.
Irrelevant documents were subsequently removed from the record.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until November 11 for the continuation of the trial.
