Timi Frank petitions NASS, Police, DSS over alleged forgery, identity theft by ex-Minister Timipre Sylva

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has called on the National Assembly, Nigeria Police Force and Department of State Services, among others, to urgently commence investigation of the immediate past Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva over alleged certificate forgery and identity theft.

Sylva who is a former Governor of Bayelsa State recently emerged the gubernatorial candidate of the APC in Bayelsa State.

Frank made these requests in a petition he addressed through his solicitors to the Senate President, Speaker, House of Representatives, Inspector General of Police and the Director General of the DSS, among others, on the matter.

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In the petition, dated March 31, 2023, and signed by the Principal Partner of Graylaw Practice LP, Edward Omaga Esq., Frank urged the National Assembly to summon Sylva and officials from his alma maters in Nigeria and Switzerland to explain the inconsistencies in the identity of the politician.

According to the petitioner, Sylva’s primary school certificate carried his name as Anagha Timipere as evident in documents the ex-Minister filed before a court in the United States as part of an ongoing defamation suit brought by his lawyers.

He said Anagha Timipere was different from Marlin Anagha Timipre, which is the name on Sylva’s WAEC certificate.

He claimed that the ex-petroleum minister had also obtained his bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Port-Harcourt, with the certificate bearing Anagha Timipre Marlin.

He insisted that this clearly contradicted Sylva’s 2011 doctoral degree certificate in International Relations from Ubis University, Switzerland, with the name Chief Timipre Sylva.

He further claimed that Sylva neither participated in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme nor did he obtain an exemption certificate as required by law.

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The obvious discrepancies in the documents caused the petitioner to insist that Sylva may have forged his academic certificates or had them stolen from a third party, “an offence that violates Section 438 of the Criminal Code Act and carries a 14-year prison sentence.”

He urged both chambers of the National Assembly to summon the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and State Security Services (SSS) officials for their roles in screening and approving Sylva’s ministerial appointment as well as his successful governorship bid in 2007.

Additionally, the petitioner prayed the National Assembly to summon Sylva and officials from all the academic institutions that issued him certificates to confirm the actual identity of who they awarded the academic certificates.

He urged the Nigerian Immigration Service, through the National Assembly, to seize Sylva’s International Passport to prevent him from fleeing the country and seeking refuge in Western nations like the U.S., Dubai, Canada, etc.