Timipre Marlin Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, has joined the Bayelsa gubernatorial race to complete a second four-year term as governor of the state.
Sylva, who served one term as Governor of Bayelsa from 2008 to 2012, is constitutionally allowed to occupy the office for another four-year term having been removed from office by the Supreme Court after winning a second term in 2012.
The minister will be seeking a second term on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Some of his friends on his behalf picked the governorship nomination form of the APC from the party’s National Secretariat on Monday.
The tenure of the incumbent Governor of Bayelsa ends on February 13, 2024, and based on the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the state’s governorship election will be held on November 11, 2023.
INEC had in a statement by its spokesperson, Festus Okoye, said: “The statutory Notice for the elections will be published in the three states on November 14, 2022. Party primaries will be held from March 27, to April 17, 2023 while the online portal for the submission of nomination forms (EC9 and EC9B) by political parties opens at 9.00am on April 24, 2023 and closes at 6.00pm on May 5, 2023.
“The final list of candidates will be published on June 9, 2023 while campaign by political parties commences on June 14, 2023 and ends at midnight on November 9, 2023.
“The full Timetable and Schedule of Activities has been uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms.”