Timipre Sylva quits APC, writes EFCC, urges Nigerians to reject Tinubu in 2027

Former Bayelsa State Governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress, APC, accusing the ruling party of abandoning its founding ideals and calling on Nigerians to vote it out in 2027.

In a resignation letter dated August 31, 2026, addressed to the APC Chairman of Ward 4, Brass Local Government Area, Sylva said the decision followed “extensive consultations with my family, associates, colleagues and sympathisers.”

Copies of the letter were also sent to the APC National Chairman, the EFCC Chairman, and the Bayelsa State APC Chairman.

Sylva, a founding member of the APC, said it was painful to watch the party derail from the principles that drew Nigerians to it in 2013.

“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,” he wrote.

He accused the party leadership of embracing the notion that “all is fair in Politics.”

“Moreover, I cannot, in all 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. All cannot be fair in any endeavour of life. The demands of basic decency and morality forbid it.”

The former minister took a swipe at the APC-led Federal Government, saying it had failed Nigerians.

“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,” Sylva stated.

“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.”

He expressed optimism that voters would change the country’s direction in 2027:

“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.”

Sylva also accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of partisanship.

“I am deliberately putting the EFCC in a copy of this letter because, of late, it has conducted itself more as an organ of the APC than as an institution of State.”

He added that he was prepared for possible backlash:
“I am fully aware that this action of mine may invite a redoubled witch-hunt against me and my associates, but that is a risk I am willing to take.”

Sylva’s resignation comes amid a wave of defections by his loyalists in Bayelsa ahead of the 2027 elections. Many have complained of being schemed out of the party they helped build in the state.

His running mate in the 2023 Bayelsa governorship election, Joshua MacIver, had earlier dumped the APC. Other grassroots leaders across the eight LGAs have also left for opposition platforms.

The former minister is currently out of the country and is being tried in absentia over allegations of financing a plot against the government of President Bola Tinubu. Sylva has repeatedly denied the charge and maintained his innocence.

Sylva served as Bayelsa governor from 2007 to 2012 and was Minister of State for Petroleum Resources from 2019 to 2023, during which he oversaw key oil sector reforms including the passage and implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.

His exit is seen as a major blow to the APC in Bayelsa, a state where the party has struggled to consolidate since losing the governorship to the PDP in 2019 and again in 2023.

With the 2027 general elections 16 months away, political realignments in the South-South are expected to intensify as parties jostle for control of the oil-rich region.

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