BREAKING : EFCC Declares Timipre Sylva Wanted Over $14.8 Million Fraud Allegation

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former Minister of Petroleum Resources and ex-Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, wanted over an alleged $14.8 million fraud.

In a statement released on Monday, November 10, 2025, the Commission said Sylva is being sought in connection with a case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion involving $14,859,257 (Fourteen Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty-Nine Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seven United States Dollars).

According to the EFCC, the sum represents part of the funds invested by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, a company established for the construction of a refinery project.

The anti-graft agency disclosed that it had, on November 6, 2025, secured a warrant of arrest against the former minister from the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos. The warrant, granted by Justice D.I. Dipeolu, authorizes law enforcement officers to arrest Sylva “for the purpose of bringing him before the Commission to answer to the criminal offence he is alleged to have committed.”

EFCC further urged members of the public with useful information about the whereabouts of the former governor to contact any of its Zonal Directorates nationwide, or report to the nearest police station or security agency.

Chief Timipre Sylva, who served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under President Muhammadu Buhari, was also the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the 2023 Bayelsa State governorship election.

As of press time, the EFCC has not disclosed whether efforts to locate or apprehend him have yielded any results.