Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has put out a call for help to find a former top oil official over claims he helped steal more than 14 million dollars meant for a fuel plant in the south.
Timipre Sylva, who once ran Bayelsa State and served as deputy oil minister, faces charges of teaming up with others to misuse the cash. The money came from a government board set up to boost local work in the oil sector. It was meant to build a small refinery by a firm called Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, but the project never took off.
A judge in Lagos signed off on an arrest order against Sylva four days ago, so officers can bring him in to face questions. The agency put up posters and asked anyone who spots him to tip off its offices in cities like Abuja, Lagos, or Port Harcourt, or call a hotline number.
This comes after lawmakers started looking into a bigger 35-million-dollar handout to the same board just over three weeks back. They worry the cash went down the drain on a project that exists only on paper, five years after the deal. Groups kicked off the check in May last year by complaining to the agency, but nothing happened for months.
Sylva’s team says he had no hand in any takeover plot when soldiers searched his home in the capital on 25 October. They grabbed his brother, who helps with home matters, and his driver while Sylva was away. The search wrecked some things inside, his aides claim, but they deny all links to trouble.
The agency says anyone with news on Sylva should get in touch quick to help wrap up the probe.
