Bayelsa Guber: Sylva ‘Resigns’ As Minister

There were strong indications that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, has resigned his position to contest the Bayelsa State governorship election.

LEADERSHIP gathered from impeccable sources that Sylva handed his resignation letter last week to President Muhammadu Buhari, who doubles as Petroleum Minister, and stopped coming to the office since then.

However, Sylva could not be reached for comment and when contacted, his special assistant on Media, Mr Horatius Egua, neither confirm nor deny Sylva’s resignation.

Egua said he has not seen the letter and his principal has not told him that he has resigned.

Sylva is seeking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to run for Bayelsa governorship seat in the party’s primary election scheduled to take place on April 14.

He served as governor of Bayelsa State for one full term between 2008 and 2012. At the time, he was a member of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which was then in power at the federal level.

Appointed Minister of State Petroleum Resources in August 2019, Sylva oversaw major reforms in the oil sector, including the passing of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, which overhauled the sector’s fiscal regime in a bid to spur investment.