The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has declared former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, wanted over an alleged conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257 said to have been provided by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) for a modular refinery project.

The anti-graft agency announced this in a public notice on Monday, stating that the former minister is wanted in connection with funds reportedly meant for the Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited.

EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, confirmed that a Federal High Court in Lagos issued an arrest warrant for Sylva on November 6, 2025, after the commission applied for his detention.

Justice D.I. Dipeolu directed law enforcement agencies to apprehend the former minister and present him before the commission for questioning.

Senior EFCC officials disclosed that Sylva’s name has also been placed on the watchlists of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Interpol, the UK Metropolitan Police, and security agencies in Canada and other countries.

A senior operative familiar with the case said Sylva had been honouring EFCC invitations before he suddenly stopped appearing.

“The case has been ongoing for some time. Now that he has been declared wanted, his name has been circulated to our international partners,” the source said.

According to his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Julius Bokoru, Sylva is currently in the United Kingdom for medical treatment.

The EFCC’s move follows a recent resolution by the House of Representatives to probe the alleged mismanagement of $35 million invested by the NCDMB in a modular refinery project that never materialised in the Niger Delta.

The motion, sponsored by lawmaker Billy Osawaru, queried the existence of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, which received millions of dollars in public investment about five years ago without tangible results.

Stakeholders had earlier petitioned the EFCC in May 2024 to investigate the NCDMB’s investments in the project. However, the commission had reportedly remained silent until now.

Sylva, who is also a former governor of Bayelsa State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), recently came under scrutiny after his Abuja residence was raided by security operatives over alleged links to a coup plot.

His younger brother, Paga, and his driver were arrested during the October 25 operation, though Sylva was reportedly out of the country at the time.

Reacting to his declaration as wanted, Sylva’s spokesperson, Bokoru, described the EFCC’s action as politically motivated and lacking due process.

He said, “No formal communication was extended to him, no established protocol observed—only a sudden digital proclamation designed to inflame public sentiment. What was once whispered as a ‘coup matter’ has now metamorphosed into a financial allegation.”

Bokoru further alleged that unnamed political interests were orchestrating a campaign to tarnish Sylva’s image, adding that the former minister “remains the target of a coordinated political onslaught.”

He maintained that Sylva would honour the EFCC’s invitation once he concludes his medical engagement abroad, insisting that the former minister “has not diverted a single dollar” and that the refinery project was a legitimate and verifiable undertaking.

Bokoru concluded, “Chief Timipre Sylva has clean hands. He respects due process and will cooperate with lawful authorities once he returns to the country.”