Olushola Omogbehin
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has appealed to former Bayelsa State Governor, Timipre Sylva, to present himself for questioning over an alleged $14.86m fraud.
Dele Oyewale, who is the commission’s spokesman, disclosed this on Monday while reacting to Sylva’s allegation that the EFCC had conducted itself more as an organ of the All Progressives Congress than as an institution of the state.
“He has been declared wanted; he should make himself available to the commission,” Oyewale said when asked to respond to the allegation.
Sylva, who announced his resignation from the APC on Monday, said he had forwarded a copy of his resignation letter to the EFCC, accusing the commission of acting as an organ of the ruling party.
In his resignation letter which he addressed to the APC chairman of Ward 4 in Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, and delivered electronically, The former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources accused the APC of abandoning its founding ideals and said the Tinubu administration had disappointed Nigerians.
The letter was copied to the national chairman of the APC, the executive chairman of the EFCC and the chairman of the APC in Bayelsa State.
In the letter dated August 31, 2026, Sylva said the ideals upon which the APC was founded had been thwarted, leaving him with no option but to leave what he described as a “floundering ship whose fate appears to have been sealed by its irredeemable load of iniquities.”
He wrote, “As a founding member of the APC, and one who joined other well-meaning Nigerians in building the Party with sweat and money, it is deeply saddening to witness how the ideals we espoused have been so thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted.
“Moreover, I cannot, in all good conscience, continue to belong to a Party whose leaders believe that ‘all is fair in politics;’ and have consistently demonstrated that belief in practice.
“All cannot be fair in any endeavour of life. The demands of basic decency and morality forbid it. Unfortunately, this mentality appears to underpin virtually every action, and even inaction, of this administration.”
He said APC-led Federal Government, has failed to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
“The present Government, formed under the banner of the APC we once loved, has disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians. And I can see neither a credible attempt nor any possibility of a revamp.
“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. I have no doubt that, in the coming election, Nigerians will vote for Nigeria and free the Country from this stranglehold on our beautiful country,” he said.
Accusing EFCC of becoming increasingly political and expressing fear that his resignation could trigger further investigation against him and his associates, Sylva said:
“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.
“I am fully aware that this action of mine may invite a redoubled witch-hunt against me and my associates, but that is a risk I am willing to take.”
