Abuja/Bayelsa State — August 31, 2026
Former Bayelsa State Governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC), citing the party’s departure from its founding ideals.
In a resignation letter dated August 31, 2026, and addressed to the APC Chairman of Ward 4, Brass Local Government Area, Bayelsa State, Sylva — who described himself as a founding member of the party — announced his immediate withdrawal.
“Having consulted widely with my family, associates, colleagues and sympathisers, I wish to formally tender my resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC), with immediate effect,” Sylva wrote.
In the letter, Sylva accused the party’s leadership of abandoning the principles of fairness and integrity he said the APC once stood for, describing the current administration as having “disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians.” He said he could 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,” he stated, adding that he has “no doubt that, in the coming election, Nigerians will vote for Nigeria and free the country from this stranglehold.”
Sylva also disclosed that he copied the letter to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing the anti-graft agency of having “conducted itself more as an organ of the APC than as an institution of state” in recent times. He acknowledged the move could invite “a redoubled witch-hunt” against him and his associates but said it was a risk he was willing to take.
The resignation follows a string of recent departures from Sylva’s camp within the Bayelsa APC. His media aide, Julius Bokoru, and his personal assistant, Ofieyefate Alanumo, had both already resigned their party membership in the preceding days.
Sylva, who governed Bayelsa State between 2008 and 2012 under the PDP before later joining the APC and serving as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, closed his letter with the words: “Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
