Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum, has toed the line of his compatriots Minister Of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, (AGF) Abubakar Malami and Minister of Labour and Employment, by withdrawing from the presidential race in the All Progressives Congress (APC) and returned to work.
According to an official at the ministry who chose to remain anonymous, Sylva withdrew from the race to support President Muhammadu Buhari in his quest to achieve a robust oil sector.
“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.
“He 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.
“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.
“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.
Recall that President Buhari had directed that all political appointees with political ambition in the 2023 general elections should resign their appointment on or before Monday, May 16, 2022.
Consequently, the likes of Godswill Akpabio, Minister Of Niger Delta Affairs, Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister Of Science And Technology, and Minister of State for Education Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba resigned from their appointments.
However, the likes of Malami, Ngige and Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen and now Sylva withdrew their ambitions to remain in office.
