The minister of state for petroleum, Timipre Sylva has resigned from his position to contest in the governorship election of Bayelsa State.
The All Progressive Congress, APC, governorship primaries in Bayelsa State is slated for next April 14th.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Special Assistant on Digital Communications, Bashir Ahmad made this known in a tweet on Friday.
In his official Twitter handle, he confirmed the development after weeks of speculations about the intention of the Minister.
Ahmad tweeted: “Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, and former Bayelsa state governor, H.E. Timipre Sylva, has resigned his appointment to contest in the next Bayelsa governorship election”.
Sylva had last year resigned as Minister after declaring his intention to contest the Presidential primaries of the APC.
But a few days later, he withdrew the letter despite attending a valedictory session with President Buhari alongside other Ministers who contested the primaries.
Sylva served as governor of Bayelsa for one full term between 2008 and 2012. At the time, he was a member of the People’s Democratic Party, which was then in power at the federal level but is now in opposition.
Appointed junior oil minister in August 2019, Sylva oversaw major reforms in the oil sector, including the passing of legislation that overhauled the sector’s fiscal regime in a bid to spur investment.
During his time as minister, Nigeria’s oil output fell to its lowest in decades due to crude theft and pipeline vandalism. Angola overtook Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer and exporter for a few months last year.
