Nigeria’s anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Sunday declared former Bayelsa State Governor Timipre Sylva a wanted fugitive, accusing him of masterminding the alleged diversion of over $14 million earmarked for a private refinery project.
The EFCC secured a Federal High Court order in Lagos on November 6 for Sylva’s immediate apprehension, targeting the ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources in a sprawling probe into financial malfeasance that has rocked the oil-rich Niger Delta.
Sylva, 60, stands accused of conspiracy and the dishonest conversion of $14,859,257 in funds originally allocated by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited for constructing a modular refinery.
Justice D.I. Dipeolu of the Federal High Court authorised the warrant, ruling: “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 declaration, plastered across EFCC channels and national dailies, marks a fresh escalation in the agency’s crackdown on high-profile corruption cases under President Bola Tinubu’s administration, with investigators alleging the siphoned cash crippled a key infrastructure initiative meant to boost local refining capacity.
Sylva, who governed Bayelsa from 2007 to 2011 amid his own share of electoral tussles, has yet to surface publicly or respond to the summons, prompting the EFCC to cast a wide net for tips from the public.
“Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Timipre Sylva should report to the nearest EFCC office, police station, or any security agency,” the commission urged in its public notice, heightening the manhunt in a nation weary of elite impunity.
The development piles pressure on Sylva, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who narrowly lost Bayelsa’s 2023 gubernatorial race, as probes into his petroleum ministry stint unearth layers of alleged graft spanning billions in public funds.
