This part of PREMIUM TIMES’ exclusive series on last year’s failed coup against the President Tinubu administration reveals what investigators believe were the sources of former Bayelsa State Governor Sylva’s donations to the thwarted plot.
Newly obtained troves of investigation records have thrown light on how Timipre Sylva, a former governor of the oil-rich Bayelsa State, sourced the money he allegedly threw at last year’s failed coup against President Bola Tinubu and his administration.
Many of these suspects are now facing charges at either the General Court Martial or the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The documents this newspaper reviewed include suspects’ extrajudicial statements, bank records, printouts of prime suspects’ secret text messages, the suspected coup leader’s hidden notes, and investigative reports.
A report from the files, which focused on Mr Sylva’s financial contributions to the coup, framed him as a “high net worth individual.”
It described how Mr Sylva, who served as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s immediate past administration, worked with associates to pool over N5 billion allegedly stashed in a dedicated account for executing the alleged plot.
Before the plot hit the rock last September, Mr Sylva, who allegedly specifically demanded not to be associated with plot, had instructed the transfer of N785 million for the execution.
He allegedly funnelled his contributions through the accounts of a company, Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja-based company involved in real estate, land transactions and construction.
The company, which served as an intermediary entity adopted for the sponsorship of the plot, allegedly transferred Mr Sylva’s donations to a bureau de change (BDC) operator, the investigative report examined by PREMIUM TIMES said.
Then, on the instruction of the suspected coup leader, Mohammed Ma’aji, a 50-year-old Army colonel from Niger State, the BDC operator disbursed the proceeds to beneficiaries assigned various roles in the plot.
The coup broke down with the arrest of Mr Ma’aji on 29 September 2025. In October, investigators said they found billions of naira remaining in the bank accounts used to fund the coup planning activities.
But the question remains: where did the money funding the Purple Waves’ accounts that allegedly financed the coup activities come from?
Investigators believe the funds came from two principal sources.
Part of the money, the report said, came from what appeared to be the proceeds of a contract awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The other stream of funds allegedly came from loans granted to Purple Waves by SunTrust Bank Limited and a third party.
These funds allegedly landed in Purple Waves Limited’s accounts.
Investigators portrayed Purple Waves Limited as critical to the plot.
Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) records obtained during investigations showed that the firm was incorporated on 3 March 2009.
They listed the company’s directors as Inowei Ingoikputu and Abang Ogar, both of whom are believed to be Mr Sylva’s associates.
The investigative report further stated that some properties presented as collateral for a loan the company obtained from SunTrust Bank last year belonged to either Mr Sylva or an unnamed associate.
The firm came into the coup picture in July 2025, after Mr Sylva’s initial hesitation about the coup gave way, turning around to promise the suspected coup leader, Mr Ma’aji, a financial support for “the movement”.
So, on 23 July 2025, Mr Sylva allegedly asked Mr Ingoikputu and Mr Ogar to open a SunTrust Bank account 0026004238 in the name of their firm, Purple Waves. He asked for the account to be opened “to facilitate receipt and payment of funds required to executé the planned coup,” investigators said.
Acting on Mr Sylva’s request, the board of Purple Waves passed a resolution designating Mr Ingoikputu, Issac Ekpoki and John Ifeanyi Ebokpo as the signatories to the SunTrust Bank account.
The largest single contribution to Purple Waves Limited’s account amounted to N5.8 billion. The source was the NDDC, according to the investigative report reviewed.
The report said the NDDC paid the money to Purple Wave for executing “an alleged contract” of Niger Delta Emergency Coastal Protection — Phase 1, a land reclamation and shoreline protection project.
The report provided little detail about this contract or the payment.
It did not indicate when the money was paid to Purple Waves’ account.
It did not discuss when the contract was awarded, the total value of the contract or who the particular contractor was.
Also, the report did not disclose the contract’s execution status or whether the N5.8 billion represented the entire contract value or just a fraction of it.
There is also no information in the report indicating if NDDC was contacted over the payment or the contract.
The report instead said that inquiries so far “revealed that the opening of Purple Waves’ SunTrust Bank account number 0026004238 and the transfer of N5,816,336,659.83 to the account for the execution of the PLANNED COUP was orchestrated and spearheaded by the prime suspects, in this case, Timipre Sylva and Alhassan Ma’aji Mohammed.”
