Timipre Sylva has resigned as Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum to contest as governor of Bayelsa state, ministry and presidency sources told Reuters on Thursday.
Sylva’s resignation comes at a time of political transition in Nigeria, with President Muhammadu Buhari serving his final weeks in office before giving way to president-elect Bola Tinubu on May 29.
Timipre Sylva handed his resignation letter last week to Buhari, who doubles as petroleum minister, and stopped coming to the office, said two sources who did not want to be identified.
They said he would be seeking the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to run for Bayelsa governor in party primaries scheduled to take place on April 14.
Sylva contested the APC presidential primaries but withdrew days to the election despite buying the N100 million nomination forms.
He could not be reached for comment and the petroleum ministry declined to comment.
Timipre Sylva served as governor of Bayelsa for one full term between 2008 and 2012. At the time, he was a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, which was then in power at the federal level but is now in opposition.
Appointed state minister of petroleum in August 2019, Sylva oversaw major reforms in the oil sector, including the passing of legislation that overhauled the sector’s fiscal regime in a bid to spur investment.
During his time as minister, Nigeria’s oil output fell to its lowest in decades due to crude theft and pipeline vandalism. Angola overtook Nigeria as Africa’s biggest oil producer and exporter for a few months last year.
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
