The Special Assistant to the President on Digital Communications, Bashir Ahmad, has confirmed the resignation of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva.
Ahmad, in a tweet on Friday, stated that the minister stepped down to join the Bayelsa State governorship election scheduled for November 11, 2023.
“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,” the presidential aide tweeted.
Under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sylva held office as governor of Bayelsa between May 2007 and April 2008, when his election was nullified. Then Speaker of the House of Assembly Werinipre Seibarugo replaced him until a new election led to Sylva’s re-emergence in May 2008.
In January 2012, the Supreme Court terminated his administration.
After his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), he was later appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday, August 21, 2019, as the Nigerian Cabinet Minister of State for Petroleum Resources.