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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared a former Minister of Petroleum Resources and one-time Governor of Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva, wanted over an alleged $14.8 million fraud.
According to the anti-graft agency, Sylva is being investigated for alleged conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257 (Fourteen Million, Eight Hundred and Fifty-Nine Thousand, Two Hundred and Fifty-Seven United States Dollars).
The amount, the EFCC said, forms part of the funds injected by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited for the construction of a refinery.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the EFCC disclosed that it secured a warrant for Sylva’s arrest on November 6, 2025, from the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos.
The order, granted by Justice D.I. Dipeolu, reads in part:
> “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 Commission has urged members of the public with credible information on the former minister’s whereabouts to contact any of its Zonal Directorates, the nearest police station, or other security agencies across the country.
Sylva, who served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources under former President Muhammadu Buhari, is also a former Governor of Bayelsa State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
His declaration as wanted marks another phase in the EFCC’s ongoing efforts to recover public funds allegedly diverted through fraudulent partnerships and project investments involving government agencies and private entities.
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