Former Governor Timipre Sylva has announced his resignation from the All Progressives Congress after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission accused him of stealing $14,859,257 in 2025.
In a letter addressed to the chairman of the party in Ward 4 of the Brass council area of Bayelsa, dated August 31, Mr Sylva said he was resigning from the party.
“Having consulted widely with my family, associates, colleagues and sympathisers, I wish to formally tender my resignation from the All Progressives Congress, with immediate effect.
“As a founding member of the APC, and one who joined other well-meaning Nigerians in building the party with sweat and money, it is deeply saddening to witness how the ideals we espoused have been so thoroughly and unrecognisably thwarted,” Mr Sylva said.
He said he could not, in good conscience, continue to belong to a party whose leaders believe that all is fair in politics and have consistently demonstrated that belief in practice.
Mr Sylva noted that all cannot be fair in any endeavour of life.
“The present government, formed under the banner of the APC we once loved, has disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians.
And I can see neither a credible attempt nor any possibility of a revamp.
“I am therefore left with no other choice than to jettison a floundering ship whose fate appears to have been sealed by its irredeemable load of iniquities.
I have no doubt that, in the coming election, Nigerians will vote for Nigeria and free the country from this stranglehold on our beautiful country,” Mr Sylva said.
In 2013, the anti-graft agency arrested the former governor at his Maitama, Abuja, home on allegations of fraudulent transactions that bordered on money laundering.
Similarly, in 2025, the EFCC declared him wanted in connection with the alleged conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257-part of funds injected by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB).
“Sylva is wanted in connection with an alleged case of conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257, being part of funds injected by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited for the construction of a refinery,” the EFCC said.