The new probe report has accused a former governor of Bayelsa State and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, of helping to raise billions of naira for the failed 2025 plan to overthrow President Bola Tinubu.
Premium Times reports 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 documents analyzed include bank statements, statements of suspects, private messages, investigative reports and notes purportedly authored by the suspected mastermind of the plot, Col. Mohammed Ma’aji.
Sylva has not been convicted of any of the allegations made against him in court. The former minister had earlier denied any involvement, calling reports linking him to the plot unfounded.
According to the report of the investigation, Sylva and his associates were suspected to have pooled over ₦5bn in an account to fund the planned overthrow of the government.
The report alleged that Sylva had approved the transfer of ₦785m for the execution of the plot, while trying to avoid public association with it.
The money was reportedly channelled through Purple Waves Limited, an Abuja-based firm dealing in construction, real estate and land transactions.
The company was said to have transferred the money to Bureau de Change operators, who then gave the cash to persons assigned roles in the alleged conspiracy on the instructions of Ma’aji.
The plot reportedly fell apart after Ma’aji was arrested on September 29, 2025.
The report quoted records from the Corporate Affairs Commission which showed that Purple Waves Limited was incorporated on the 3rd of March, 2009.
Sylva’s associates, according to investigators, were named as directors Inowei Ingoikputu and Abang Ogar.
Some of the Abuja properties used as collateral for loans secured by the company belonged to Sylva or persons close to him, the report said.
“On July 23, 2025, Sylva asked the company’s directors to open a SunTrust Bank account for the receipt and disbursement of funds relating to the proposed coup,” the report stated.
The company later appointed Ingoikputu, Isaac Ekpoki and John Ifeanyi Ebokpo as signatories to the account.
The investigators traced the single largest inflow to be the alleged payment of ₦5.8bn by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDC) to Purple Waves for a coastal protection project.
It was called the Niger Delta Emergency Coastal Protection, Phase One project and entailed land reclamation and shoreline protection.
However the report did not state when the contract was given, the total value, the level of execution or if the payment was the entire contract sum.
It also did not say whether the NDDC had been contacted for confirmation of payment or status of the project.
But the investigators accused Sylva and Ma’aji of having conspired to open the account and transfer the sum of ₦5.816bn into it for the execution of the alleged coup.
The report also alleged that Purple Waves got loans of about ₦2.9bn from SunTrust Bank in September, 2025.
Investigators said the funds were deposited into the company’s account on September 17, and were used in part to fund activities related to the alleged plot.
It was learnt that another loan of ₦1.2bn was credited to the same account on the same day. Yobygo Nigeria Limited also transferred another ₦1.07bn on September 18.
The report alleged that Purple Waves used Yobygo to facilitate further funding on its behalf.
Three properties in Abuja, estimated at a total 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” the properties were tied to Sylva or an associate.
The investigators said they traced transactions running into over ₦8.2bn through the Purple Waves accounts, not including foreign exchange transactions with Bureau de Change operators.
They said the money went into the accounts as loans or payments relating to the NDDC project.
The report said that at the point when its management allegedly began to disburse money on the instruction of Sylva, Purple Waves had a balance of about ₦5.18bn.
Ma’aji was said to have been moved a total of ₦785m on different occasions through firms associated with a BDC operator, Sani Abdullahi.
The BDC firms identified were Express Link, ASA Multipurpose Concept and Luji Trade and Investment Limited.
Investigators have alleged that invoices were presented to SunTrust Bank indicating the transfers were for fuel, equipment operators, marine spare parts, rental of dredgers and site-clearing work related to the NDDC project.
But the BDC operator denied knowing about the invoices.
The report also alleged 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.
The transactions were described by investigators as a case of “legitimate funds used to sponsor illegitimate activities.”
The report cited various dates for the alleged coup including September 27, October 1 and October 4, 2025.
No end date was said to have been set prior to Ma’aji’s arrest.
Investigators later arrested military officers, a police officer, clerics and civilians suspected of being involved in the plot or of failing to report it.
As of October 20, 2025, the Purple Waves current account had a balance of ₦4.3bn, while another account tied to an advance payment guarantee had a balance of ₦2.9bn.
The report said SunTrust Bank was directed to put a Post-No-Debit restriction on the account with ₦4.3bn.
It did not state what was done about the account with the ₦2.9bn balance.
The BDC operator was also allegedly ordered to transfer an unspent ₦306.6m to the Nigerian Army Corps of Military Police account.
Sylva, who investigators believe is outside Nigeria, denied involvement in the alleged coup when the claims first surfaced in October 2025.
He dismissed the allegations as rumours and denied claims that he had financed any attempt to overthrow the government.
In Abuja, meanwhile, five of his aides are reportedly facing charges for hiding information about his location.
