Minister of State for Petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva has backed out of the presidential bid from the All Progressive Congress (APC) and has declined resignation. The Minister was reported to have declined his ambition after considering the volume of work staring at him in his office in the Ministry. According to the source who pleaded anonymity within the ministry said that Sylva dropped his ambition to help president Buhari fulfilled his mission of consolidating the oil industry for Nigerians before leaving office in 2023.
In his statement, “He promised to consult the leader of the country and his political leaders the day he was presented with the form.
“He believes that concentrating on his work will attract more investments for the oil and gas sector.
The source added, that Sylva has consulted and he believes that the challenges at the ministry and oil and gas sector are enough issues for him to begin to deal with now than going to pursue presidential ambition at the expense of the nation.
Considering that the oil and gas sector is the mainstay of the economy and it is not like any other ministry somebody can just come in and take over, he added.
“It requires some measures of time for the person to understand what is happening in the system.
“For the interest of the industry and the nation, he has decided to wave that personal ambition to see what he can contribute in the remaining part of President Buhari’s administration.
“The implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 is very critical and he wants to continue to make his own contribution to the day-to-day running of the country and support Mr. President for robust achievements,” the official said.
Meanwhile, when contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the minister on media, Mr. Horatious Egua, confirmed to NAN that the minister was back to work.
