Sylva a victim of politically motivated campaign — Aide

Sylva a victim of politically motivated campaign — Aide

ABUJA — Julius Bokoru, media aide to former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has accused unnamed political actors of orchestrating a smear campaign against his principal following his recent declaration as wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The EFCC had on Monday declared Sylva wanted over alleged conspiracy and dishonest conversion of $14,859,257, said to be part of funds invested by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) into Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited.

In a statement signed by EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, the anti-graft agency urged members of the public with useful information about Sylva’s whereabouts to contact any of its offices or the nearest police station.

Reacting to the development, Bokoru described the EFCC’s notice as a “digital proclamation” lacking due process and intended to incite public hostility against Sylva.

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“No formal communication was extended to him, no established protocol observed — only a sudden digital proclamation seemingly designed to inflame public sentiment and manufacture yet another episode of orchestrated hostility,” Bokoru said.
“The same shadowy forces that once sought to criminalise Sylva politically now appear to have reinvented themselves as fiscal crusaders.”

The media aide said his principal’s ordeal was part of a sustained political vendetta by rivals who “dread Sylva’s enduring relevance and moral resolve.”

He clarified that Sylva, currently receiving medical treatment in the United Kingdom (UK), would honour the EFCC’s invitation upon his return to Nigeria.

“Chief Timipre Sylva has clean hands,” Bokoru declared. “He has not diverted a single dollar, nor 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.”

Bokoru urged Sylva’s supporters to remain calm, maintaining that “truth, though often delayed, remains immutable.”

In October, soldiers reportedly raided Sylva’s homes in Abuja and Bayelsa, arresting his brother over alleged links to a failed plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration — claims Bokoru had also dismissed as politically motivated.

Sylva a victim of politically motivated campaign — Aide