President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has written to the Senate, seeking confirmation of 21 nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
In his first letter, the President nominated former Senator Magnus Abe as Chairman of the NUPRC Board. Abe, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District for two terms, is a former board member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and currently serves as Chairman of the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
Other nominees for the NUPRC board as non-executive commissioners include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna State, and Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former Deputy Director of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
President Tinubu also nominated executive commissioners for the Commission, including Muhammed Sabo Lamido as Executive Commissioner, Finance; Edu Inyang as Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage; Justin Ezeala as Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning; and Henry Darlington Oki as Executive Commissioner, Development and Production. Others are Indabawa Bashari Alka as Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services and Administration; Mahmood Tijani as Executive Commissioner, Health, Safety and Environment; and Ms. Olayemi Adeboyejo as Secretary and Legal Adviser.
While Lamido and Adeboyejo were initially appointed in 2022 by former President Muhammadu Buhari and Alka in 2023 by President Tinubu, Inyang, Ezeala, Tijani, Babalola and Jezhi are fresh nominees of the current administration.
In a second letter, President Tinubu nominated Mr. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a seasoned lawyer and energy expert, as Chairman of the NMDPRA Board. Adeniji has over 30 years’ experience in energy and natural resources and previously served as Special Technical Adviser on upstream and gas matters to the Minister of State for Petroleum. He also worked with the World Bank’s Oil and Gas Policy Team and is currently Managing Partner at ENR Advisory.
Also nominated as non-executive members of the NMDPRA board are Chief Kenneth Kobani, a former Minister of State for Trade and former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, and Mrs. Asabe Ahmed.
Executive directors nominated include Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon Processing Plants), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), and Dr. Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration). While Adama was appointed in 2024 by President Tinubu, Lamorde and Adeniji were appointed in 2021, and Ogaree in 2022 by the previous administration.
Other proposed members of the NMDPRA board are Mr. Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Murtala Aminu (Corporate Services), Ms. Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Barrister Olawale Dawodu as Board Secretary and Legal Adviser.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to expedite action on the confirmation of the nominees, noting that the requests followed the recent appointment of chief executive officers for the two regulatory agencies. The Senate had earlier confirmed Mr. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.
The President charged all nominees and appointees to discharge their duties with professionalism and integrity in regulating Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
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