Former Bayelsa State governor and former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has resigned from the All Progressives Congress, APC, with immediate effect.
Sylva announced his resignation in a letter dated August 31, 2026, addressed to the APC Chairman of Ward 4, Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
He said the decision followed consultations with his family, associates, colleagues and sympathisers.
The former governor, who described himself as a founding member of the APC, said he was deeply saddened by what he described as the abandonment of the ideals upon which the party was founded.
According to Sylva, he could no longer remain in a party whose leaders believe 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.”
He added that political conduct should be guided by basic standards of decency and morality.
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Sylva also criticised the APC-led Federal Government, saying it had disappointed the vast majority of Nigerians and that he could see neither a credible attempt nor any possibility of a revival.
He described the APC as a “floundering ship” and said he was therefore left with no choice but to leave the party.
The former governor further expressed confidence that Nigerians would vote for a different political direction in the coming election, saying they would “vote for Nigeria” and free the country from what he called the party’s “stranglehold.”
In another major allegation, Sylva copied the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in his resignation letter, accusing the anti-graft agency of acting increasingly “more as an organ of the APC than as an institution of State.”
He acknowledged that his decision could expose him and his associates to what he described as a “redoubled witch-hunt,” but said he was willing to take the risk.
Copies of the letter were also sent to the APC National Chairman and the Bayelsa State Chairman of the party.
