The former governor of Bayelsa State and erstwhile Minister of Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has claimed that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) “did not observe any protocol before declaring him wanted.”
In a statement on Monday, Julius Bokoru, special assistant on Media and Public Affairs to Mr. Sylva, alleged that the commission only took to social media to announce, “quite unceremoniously,” that it had declared the former minister wanted.
Mr. Bokoru insisted that “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.”
He described it as “curious” that what, he said, was once “whispered in corridors as a ‘coup matter’” had now “quietly metamorphosed into a financial allegation.”
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He claimed: “The same shadowy forces that once sought to criminalise Sylva politically now appear to have reinvented themselves as fiscal crusaders. There must, undoubtedly, be an explanation for this cinematic transition—from rumour to reinvention, from one carefully scripted accusation to another.”
The spokesperson asserted that Mr. Sylva was the target of a “coordinated and calculated political onslaught.”
He compared the situation to a biblical figure, stating: “His recent travails bear an uncanny resemblance to the trials of Job in Holy Scripture—each ordeal arriving with near-mathematical precision, each accusation discredited only for another to appear.”
He concluded that “These are no coincidences; they are deliberate machinations of those who dread Sylva’s enduring political relevance and moral resolve.”
Mr. Bokoru confirmed he had not been in direct contact with his principal but assured the public: “However, from available information and from prior official briefings, it is important to restate that Chief Sylva will, in line with his respect for lawful institutions and due process, honour the invitation of the EFCC once he concludes his ongoing medical check-up in the United Kingdom.”
He vehemently defended Sylva’s innocence, saying: “At this stage, one might jest that only the Boys’ Brigade of Nigeria and the Man’O’War remain uninvited to this theatre of persecution… Yet, let it be categorically stated: Chief Timipre Sylva has clean hands. He has not diverted a single dollar, nor has he betrayed the trust reposed in him by the Nigerian people.”
He maintained that “The refinery project in question is a legitimate, transparent, and verifiable undertaking—subject to due process and traceable documentation.”
Bokoru concluded with a message to supporters: “This, too, shall pass. Truth, though often delayed, remains immutable… Those engineering this relentless campaign of defamation will not prevail—for light, by its very nature, must always outshine darkness.”
The EFCC had declared Mr. Sylva wanted over an alleged $14.85 million fraud regarding funds provided by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for the construction of the Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited.
The commission announced the development on social media on Monday and secured an arrest warrant on November 6 from Justice D.I. Dipeolu at a Federal High Court in Lagos, which authorized the arrest “for the purpose of bringing him before the Commission to answer to the criminal offence he is alleged to have committed.”
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