Coup or financial allegation : Sylva’s aide questions EFCC motives for declaring boss wanted*
Coup or financial allegation : Sylva’s aide questions EFCC motives for declaring boss wanted*
Julius Bokoru, special assistant on media and public affairs to Timipre Sylva, former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, has described the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s (EFCC) declaration of his principal as wanted as part of a politically motivated campaign.
Earlier on Monday, the EFCC declared Sylva wanted over an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257.
In a statement signed by Dele Oyewale, EFCC spokesperson, the commission said the funds were part of investments by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited. The agency urged anyone with information on Sylva’s whereabouts to contact its offices or the nearest police station.
Reacting to the development, Bokoru described the EFCC’s announcement as a “digital proclamation” intended to stir public hostility against Sylva.
He noted that the former minister had not been formally informed before the notice was made public.
“It is, to say the least, curious that what was once whispered in corridors as a coup matter has now quietly metamorphosed into a financial allegation,” Bokoru said.
“No formal communication was extended to him, no established protocol observed—only a sudden digital proclamation designed, it would seem, to inflame public sentiment and manufacture yet another episode of orchestrated hostility. The same shadowy forces that once sought to criminalise Sylva politically now appear to have reinvented themselves as fiscal crusaders.”
Bokoru added that the former governor’s ordeal is part of a sustained effort by political rivals who “dread Sylva’s enduring relevance and moral resolve.” He confirmed that Sylva, currently in the United Kingdom (UK) for medical reasons, would comply with the EFCC’s invitation upon his return.
“Chief Timipre Sylva has clean hands,” Bokoru said. “He has not diverted a single dollar, nor has he betrayed the trust reposed in him by the Nigerian people. The refinery project in question is a legitimate, transparent, and verifiable undertaking—subject to due process and traceable documentation.”
The media aide urged Sylva’s supporters to remain calm, emphasizing that “truth, though often delayed, remains immutable.”
Bokoru also addressed reports from October that soldiers raided Sylva’s residences in Abuja and Bayelsa, arresting his brother over alleged links to a failed plot to overthrow the Bola Tinubu administration. While confirming the raid, he insisted the claims were politically motivated.
