Ex-Governor Timipre Sylva Declared Wanted as EFCC Probes Allegations of $14.86M Fraud

• The EFCC urged former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva to make himself available for questioning over an alleged $14.86m fraud
• Sylva resigned from the APC on Monday, accusing the anti-graft commission of operating as a tool of the ruling party rather than an independent institution
• The former governor copied the EFCC in his resignation letter, acknowledging the move could intensify scrutiny of him and his associates

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has called on former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva, currently declared wanted over an alleged $14.86 million fraud, to present himself to the agency for questioning.

EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale, according to a report filed by Punch Nigeria, made the call on Monday, September 1, 2026, while responding to Sylva's public claims that the commission had been functioning as a political instrument of the All Progressives Congress rather than as an independent state institution.

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"He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission," Oyewale said.

Sylva Quits APC, Fires at Tinubu Administration

Hours before the EFCC's statement, Sylva announced his resignation from the APC in a letter dated August 31, 2026, addressed to the ward chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.

Copies were sent to the APC's national chairman, the EFCC, and the party's Bayelsa State chairman.

In the letter, Sylva, a founding member of the party, said the ideals that brought the APC into existence had been "thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted."

He added that the Tinubu administration had "disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians" and that he saw no credible effort at improvement.

"I am therefore left with no other choice than to jettison a floundering ship whose fate appears to have been sealed by its irredeemable load of iniquities," he wrote.

Sylva deliberately included the EFCC among the recipients of the letter, writing that the commission had "conducted itself more as an organ of the APC than as an institution of State."

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He acknowledged that his resignation could invite further scrutiny but said it was "a risk I am willing to take."

Fraud charges and alleged plot against Tinubu

The EFCC first declared Sylva wanted in November 2025 in connection with a 13-count federal charge covering conspiracy and the alleged dishonest conversion of $14,859,257.

He is also listed as a defendant in a separate case involving allegations of treason, terrorism-related offences, and money laundering, linked to an alleged plot against President Bola Tinubu's administration.

Investigators identified Sylva as an alleged principal financier of that plot, with claims that approximately N785 million was channelled through Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja-based company linked to him.

More than N5 billion was reportedly pooled for the alleged operation in total.

Multiple reports indicate Sylva departed Nigeria after details of the investigation became public, and he subsequently shelved plans to return following a raid on his Abuja home and the arrest of associates.

In July 2026, the Department of State Services arraigned five of those associates for allegedly concealing his location; they pleaded not guilty and were granted bail.

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In May 2026, the Federal High Court in Abuja approved an interim forfeiture order over nine properties linked to Sylva following an EFCC application. Sylva has denied any involvement in the alleged plot. No conviction has been entered against him.

Former BoG governor gets appointment at Harvard University

YEN.com.gh reported that Dr Ernest Addison, who served as Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 2017 until his retirement in March 2025, has been appointed a Short-Term Senior Research Fellow at Harvard University's Centre for International Development (CID) and Centre for African Studies (CAS).

The appointment tasks Dr Addison with leading four CID student seminar sessions scheduled for October, during which he will reflect on eight years of monetary policy decisions and the economic shocks that defined his time at the central bank.

3News reported that seminars will open with an examination of the macroeconomic policies that drove Ghana's high growth rates in the earlier part of his tenure, including a major financial sector cleanup that saw the Bank of Ghana oversee the resolution of nine banks and 347 other financial institutions.

Source: YEN.com.gh