KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Investigation records alleged ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, helped raise billions, including authorising ₦785m, to fund a failed 2025 coup plot.
- Prosecutors relied on over 7,400 pages of documents alleging Purple Waves Limited received ₦5.816bn from NDDC and about ₦2.9bn SunTrust loans in September 2025.
- Col. Mohammed Ma’aji’s arrest on September 29, 2025 reportedly collapsed the plot, as SunTrust Bank placed Post-No-Debit on a ₦4.3bn account while Sylva denied involvement.
Fresh investigation records have alleged that a former Bayelsa State governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, helped raise billions of naira for the failed 2025 plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu.
According to Premium Times, the claims are contained in more than 7,400 pages of investigation documents assembled for the prosecution of military officers and civilians accused of participating in the alleged coup.
The records reviewed included bank statements, suspects’ statements, private messages, investigative reports and notes allegedly belonging to the suspected leader of the plot, Col. Mohammed Ma’aji.
The allegations against Sylva have not been proved in court. The former minister had earlier denied involvement, describing reports linking him to the plot as unfounded.
According to the investigation report, Sylva and his associates allegedly pooled more than ₦5bn in an account intended to finance the planned overthrow of the government.
The report alleged that Sylva, while seeking to avoid being publicly associated with the plot, authorised the transfer of ₦785m for its execution.
The money was allegedly channelled through Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja-based company involved in construction, real estate and land transactions.
Investigators claimed the company transferred funds to Bureau de Change operators, who later disbursed money to persons assigned roles in the alleged conspiracy on Ma’aji’s instructions.
The plot reportedly collapsed following Ma’aji’s arrest on September 29, 2025.
Corporate Affairs Commission records cited in the report showed that Purple Waves Limited was incorporated on March 3, 2009.
Its directors were listed as Inowei Ingoikputu and Abang Ogar, both described by investigators as Sylva’s associates.
The report alleged that some Abuja properties used as collateral for loans obtained by the company belonged to Sylva or persons close to him.
Investigators claimed that Sylva asked the company’s directors on July 23, 2025, to open a SunTrust Bank account to receive and disburse funds for what the report described as “the planned coup.”
The company subsequently appointed Ingoikputu, Isaac Ekpoki and John Ifeanyi Ebokpo as signatories to the account.
The largest single inflow identified by investigators was ₦5.8bn allegedly paid by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDC) to Purple Waves for a coastal protection project.
The project was described as the Niger Delta Emergency Coastal Protection, Phase One, involving land reclamation and shoreline protection.
The report, however, did not state when the contract was awarded, its total value, the level of execution or whether the payment represented the entire contract sum.
It also did not indicate whether the NDDC had been contacted to verify the payment or the status of the project.
Investigators nevertheless alleged that the opening of the account and transfer of ₦5.816bn into it were coordinated by Sylva and Ma’aji for the execution of the alleged coup.
The report further alleged that Purple Waves obtained loans of about ₦2.9bn from SunTrust Bank in September 2025.
Investigators said the funds were credited to the company’s account on September 17 and were partly used to finance activities connected with the alleged plot.
Another ₦1.2bn loan was reportedly credited to the same account on the same day, while Yobygo Nigeria Limited transferred an additional ₦1.07bn on September 18.
The report claimed that Yobygo was used to facilitate further funding on behalf of Purple Waves.
Three Abuja properties with an estimated market value of ₦10.9bn were allegedly pledged as collateral for a ₦2.4bn loan.
They were identified as Houses 8A and 8B on Thaba Tseka Street, Wuse 2, and Plot 4577 in Guzape District.
Investigators said it was “most likely” that the properties were linked to Sylva or an associate.
Investigators said they traced transactions exceeding ₦8.2bn through the Purple Waves accounts, apart from foreign exchange dealings involving Bureau de Change operators.
They alleged that the money entered the accounts as loans or payments connected with the NDDC project.
According to the report, Purple Waves had a balance of about ₦5.18bn when its management allegedly began disbursing money on Sylva’s instruction.
A total of ₦785m was reportedly transferred on different dates to Ma’aji through companies associated with a BDC operator, Sani Abdullahi.
The BDC firms were identified as Express Link, ASA Multipurpose Concept and Luji Trade and Investment Limited.
Investigators alleged that invoices were submitted to SunTrust Bank portraying the transfers as payments for fuel, equipment operators, marine spare parts, dredger rental and site-clearing work connected with the NDDC project.
The BDC operator, however, reportedly denied knowledge of the invoices.
The report also claimed that a SunTrust Bank relationship manager said he had never met the signatories to the Purple Waves account despite the bank disbursing ₦2.4bn to the company.
Investigators described the transactions as a case in which “legitimate funds were used to sponsor illegitimate activities.”
The report said several proposed dates were considered for the alleged coup, including September 27, October 1 and October 4, 2025.
No final date was reportedly chosen before Ma’aji’s arrest.
Investigators later arrested military officers, a police officer, clerics and civilians suspected of participating in the plot or failing to report it.
As of October 20, 2025, the Purple Waves current account reportedly held a balance of ₦4.3bn, while another account connected with an advance payment guarantee contained ₦2.9bn.
The report said SunTrust Bank was directed to place a Post-No-Debit restriction on the account containing ₦4.3bn.
It did not specify what action was taken concerning the account with the ₦2.9bn balance.
The BDC operator was also reportedly directed to transfer an unspent ₦306.6m to the account of the Nigerian Army Corps of Military Police.
Sylva, who investigators believe is outside Nigeria, denied involvement in the alleged coup when the claims first emerged in October 2025.
He described the allegations as rumours and rejected suggestions that he financed any effort to overthrow the government.
Five of his associates are reportedly facing charges in Abuja over allegations that they concealed information about his whereabouts.
