The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former Petroleum Minister, Timipre Sylva, wanted over allegations of fraud involving $14.8 million.
The anti-graft agency posted a “Wanted” notice for the 61-year-old former governor of Bayelsa State on its official social media channels on Monday morning.
The notice includes his photograph and personal details, calling on the public to provide information on his whereabouts.
According to the EFCC, the charges relate to the “dishonest conversion” of $14,859,257. The funds were reportedly part of money injected by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into a company called Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited. The money was intended for the construction of a refinery.
The public notice is based on a warrant issued by the Lagos State High Court on 6 November 2025.
“The public is hereby notified that TIMIPRE SYLVA… is wanted,” the notice from the commission’s Head of Media & Publicity, Dele Oyewale, stated. It provided contact numbers, an email address (info@efcc.gov.ng), and listed its offices across the country where tips can be sent.
This development came just weeks after Mr Sylva’s home in Abuja was raided by the Department of State Services (DSS). That raid was part of the DSS’s investigation into an alleged failed coup plot, though the extent of Mr Sylva’s alleged connection remains unclear.
The back-to-back serious allegations—first of political conspiracy and now of large-scale financial misconduct—have placed the former minister at the centre of a major storm.
Timipre Sylva served as the Governor of Bayelsa State in the oil-rich Niger Delta from 2008 to 2012. Later, he was appointed as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from 2019 to 2023 under former President Muhammadu Buhari.