Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has pulled out of the presidential race of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Instead, Sylva has returned to work as minister.
The Northern Solidarity Group had on May 9 presented the N100 million APC’s Expression of Interest and Nomination forms to the minister to enable him to contest the party’s 2023 presidential primaries.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last Wednesday given ministers who had obtained forms to contest election in 2023 up till Monday to resign their positions.
Petroleum Minister, Sylva, picks APC presidential forms
An official at the ministry who chose to remain anonymous told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Sylva withdrew from the race to support President 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.
Meanwhile, Mr. Horatius Egua, Senior Adviser, Media and Communications to the minister, confirmed that the minister was back to work.
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