Former Bayelsa State Governor and immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC), accusing the ruling party of abandoning the principles that led to its formation.
Sylva, a founding member of the APC, announced his resignation in a letter dated August 31, 2026, addressed to the party chairman in Ward 4, Brass Local Government Area, his home ward.
The former governor said his decision followed consultations with his family, associates, political colleagues and supporters.
According to Sylva, he could no longer remain in a party whose leaders, he alleged, had embraced the belief that “all is fair in politics.”
He expressed disappointment over what he described as the complete abandonment of the ideals that originally attracted him and other Nigerians to the APC.
“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,” Sylva said.
He also accused the Federal Government of failing to meet the expectations of Nigerians, saying he had lost confidence that the APC-led administration could reverse what he described as its failures.
Sylva said he was therefore compelled to leave what he called a “floundering ship,” while expressing confidence that Nigerians would use the 2027 general elections to change the country’s political direction.
The former minister also criticised the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), alleging that the agency had recently acted more like an organ of the ruling APC than an independent institution.
“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 stated.
Sylva acknowledged that his resignation could expose him and his associates to increased scrutiny or investigation.
His resignation comes as several of his political loyalists in Bayelsa have reportedly left the APC for opposition parties ahead of the 2027 elections.
Sylva served as governor of Bayelsa State from 2007 to 2012 and later became Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.
He is currently outside Nigeria and is being tried in absentia over allegations of financing a coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Sylva has denied the allegations and maintained his innocence.
