Ex-Bayelsa governor Timipre Sylva declared wanted for crime

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former Bayelsa state governor, Timipre Sylva, wanted for alleged financial crime. The anti-graft body, on Monday, accused Sylva of committing “conspiracy and dishonest conversion of the sum of $14, 857, 257”. Sylva is also a former minister of petroleum.

The said fund, as the EFCC claimed, “was part of the fund injected by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board into Atlantic Refinery and Petrochemical Limited for the construction of a refinery. The agency said it decided to declare Sylva wanted based on a warrant for his arrest, obtained from the Lagos State High Court on November 6, 2025.

“The Commission, on November 6, 2025 secured a warrant for the arrest of the former Minister at a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. The Order, granted by Justice D.I. Dipeolu stated that, “an order is made issuing a warrant to the Applicant or any Officer of the Commission, Police or any law enforcement officer for the arrest of the Respondent for the purpose of bringing him before the Commission to answer to the criminal offence he is alleged to have committed,” the EFCC said.

Cornet News states that some media reports had linked Silva to a rumoured coup attempt to topple the administration of President Bola Tinubu. A report also had Sylva’s aide confirmed that military officers, suspected to be of the military intelligence, raided the home of the former governor.

However, the federal government and the Nigerian military have dismissed the claims. The military, like the government, said no such incident took place. It dismissed the claim that some soldiers arrested recently were involvers in the failed coup. The military explained that the detained soldiers committed professional misconduct and their arrest, mere routine disciplinary procedures.