Nigeria’s presidential advisor on the Niger Delta and the main figure in the implementation of an amnesty for ex-militants in the oil-rich region has resigned from the job, an official statement said on Thursday.
“…Timi Alaibe had informed the president in a letter that he will be resigning his appointment with effect from tomorrow to contest for the governorship of Bayelsa State in the 2011 general elections,” the presidency statement said.
Alaibe, oversaw the implementation of the amnesty, under which more than 20,000 oil militants surrendered their arms in exchange for development of their region and a retraining programme.
The amnesty has brought relative peace to the troubled region and boosted the production of oil.
President Goodluck Jonathan accepted the resignation of Alaibe, an accountant and ex-banker, who hails from Bayelsa, the president’s home state, the statement said.
-AFP
There is a light coming in to the only original “Ijaw” state of Bayelsa and that is Timi Alaibe…. Bayelsians had suffered enough and if we have a free and fair election in Nigeria, then this man will be the first real people,s governor. I see a brilliant light shining after series of darkness in “Ijawland”…I hope to come back to Bayelsa to invest once this good man wins the election and I will also mobilize my friends to come to Bayelsa state as I know that the “Ijaw” people are the friendlest of all Nigerians…cos I did my NYSC in Bayelsa and I also got my wife during my service year at Bayelsa…I served at both Sangana and Kongho(both in Akassa Island) while my wife served in Yenagoa and Ekeremor respectively during the regime of Gov Alarms.SPJ…so you see we love Bayelsa.