Fresh details have emerged from the ongoing investigation into the coup plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu, with security sources indicating that financial trails linked to the aborted plan were traced to accounts associated with former Bayelsa State governor, Timipre Sylva. Operatives of the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), working alongside the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), tracked substantial sums of money allegedly connected to the failed coup attempt to financial accounts linked to Sylva.

According to Daily Sun, Sylva became a focus of investigators after some of the detained military officers reportedly identified him as a major financier of the plot. He had earlier served as Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and is a prominent figure within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

When findings were first presented to President Tinubu, he expressed scepticism and demanded verifiable evidence, prompting the DIA to expand the investigation to include the EFCC and NFIU, leading to an extensive review of suspicious transactions. Officials involved in the inquiry said the combined findings from the DIA, NFIU, and EFCC were detailed enough to convince the President that the plot went beyond speculation and amounted to a concrete attempt to subvert constitutional order.

Several officers, including a Brigadier General, Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, and a Captain, had confessed to their roles in the plot, revealing they were “conscripted” into the plan, which involved using drones and advanced technology rather than heavy troop deployment. Sylva, who was said to be aggrieved over his exclusion from the Tinubu administration, was also accused of engaging in illegal bunkering and other illicit operations in the Niger Delta.

The Department of State Services (DSS) carried out a raid on Sylva’s residence in Abuja, contrary to earlier claims that the operation was conducted by the military. Sylva has strongly denied any involvement in the alleged coup, describing the allegations as a politically motivated attempt to tarnish his reputation ahead of the 2027 general elections