Sylva writes EFCC, seeks new date to honour invitation over $14.8m case

Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) requesting a new date to honour the agency’s invitation over an alleged $14.8 million fraud.

In a letter personally signed and addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Ola Olukoyede, Sylva criticised the commission’s decision to declare him wanted, insisting he had never ignored any lawful invitation from the agency.

The letter, dated November 24 and acknowledged by the EFCC on November 26, stated that he is currently undergoing urgent medical treatment for what he described as a “life-threatening condition.”
He said he was consulting his doctors to determine whether he could safely suspend treatment to appear before investigators.

“In view of the foregoing, I most humbly request that a mutually agreed date be set, subject to medical clearance, to enable me appear physically and formally,” he wrote.

Sylva added: “I trust that the objective of your invitation is not to unalive, but to genuinely investigate an alleged crime. For only the living can appropriately, fully and responsibly respond to any allegation, which I firmly and respectfully deny.”

He recalled a series of recent incidents that had put him and his family under intense strain, beginning with what he described as “an unverified accusation” linking him to an alleged plan to undermine President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

According to him, the matter escalated into a military raid on his Abuja residence, during which several individuals — including his drivers, security aides and domestic workers — were arrested and remain in detention.

“While still grappling with the emotional and psychological strain of those events, I was on Monday, November 10, 2025, publicly declared wanted by your esteemed agency over an alleged $14.8 million fraud,” he said.

Sylva maintained that he had previously honoured an EFCC invitation in December 2024 regarding the same case. He said he was granted administrative bail on self-recognition and told he would be contacted if further clarification was required.

“To the best of my knowledge and belief, no further invitation or correspondence was issued to me thereafter,” he wrote, describing the public declaration of him as wanted as both “deeply surprising and profoundly unsettling.”

He further rejected claims that he jumped bail, saying no such incident occurred and that he had not violated any bail conditions.

Sylva warned that recent developments risk creating “a public impression of political witch-hunt,” adding that he has been treated as a target “since the beginning of this administration.”

The former Bayelsa State governor has recently been linked to a rumoured aborted military coup, allegations he has consistently denied.

His Abuja home was raided by operatives believed to be from military intelligence, after which he was declared wanted by the EFCC. During the operation, his younger brother and Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs, Paga, as well as his driver, were reportedly arrested.

His Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru, confirmed the raid but dismissed any suggestion of Sylva’s involvement in a coup plot.

Bokoru accused unnamed political actors of peddling falsehoods to damage Sylva’s reputation, describing the EFCC’s decision to declare him wanted as unjust, since, according to him, no invitation was extended before the announcement.