In separate letters read at plenary, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has requested legislative confirmation for 21 nominees to the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), in line with the Petroleum Industry Act.
This was disclosed in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
For the NUPRC, President Tinubu nominated former senator representing Rivers South East, Magnus Abe, as board chairman. Abe previously served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and currently chairs the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
Also nominated as non-executive commissioners for the NUPRC are Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources.
The President further forwarded the names of executive commissioners to the upstream regulator’s board. They include Muhammed Sabo Lamido for finance; Edu Inyang for exploration and acreage; Justin Ezeala for economic regulation and strategic planning; and Henry Darlington Oki for development and production. Others are Indabawa Bashari Alka for corporate services and administration, Mahmood Tijani for health, safety and environment, and Olayemi Adeboyejo as secretary and legal adviser.
Some of the nominees, including Lamido and Adeboyejo, were first appointed in 2022, while Alka joined the commission in 2023. Others are new appointees under the current administration.
In a separate request, the President nominated Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji as chairman of the board of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. Adeniji is a legal practitioner with over three decades of experience in energy and natural resources, and has previously advised both the Federal Government and international institutions on petroleum sector reforms.
The President also named Kenneth Kobani and Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members of the NMDPRA board. Kobani previously served as Minister of State for Trade and as Secretary to the Rivers State Government.
Further nominees to the NMDPRA include Abiodun Adeniji as executive director for finance; Francis Ogaree for hydrocarbon processing; Oluwole Adama for midstream and downstream gas infrastructure; and Mustapha Lamorde for corporate services and administration. Additional executive directors proposed are Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa for distribution systems, Adeyemi Murtala Aminu for corporate services, and Modie Ogechukwu for economic regulation and strategic planning. Olawale Dawodu was nominated as board secretary and legal adviser.
President Tinubu requested the Senate to consider and confirm the nominees without delay. The nominations follow the recent confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as chief executive officer of the NUPRC and Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as chief executive officer of the NMDPRA.
