President Bola Tinubu has initiated a major shake-up in Nigeria’s oil and gas regulatory landscape following the resignation of the chief executives of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, (NMDPRA), and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, (NUPRC).
The President has formally asked the Senate to confirm new heads for both agencies, according to separate letters transmitted yesterday, and disclosed in a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Engr. Farouk Ahmed resigned as Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, while Gbenga Komolafe stepped-down as Chief Executive of the NUPRC. Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari after the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which created the two regulatory bodies.
Following their exit, President Tinubu nominated Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive of the NUPRC and Engineer Sa’idu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, urging the Senate to grant expedited confirmation.
According to the Presidency, the nominees are seasoned professionals with decades of experience in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream, between 2023 and 2024, and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, from 2019 to 2023.
Engineer Sa’idu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was also announced on Wednesday as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
The nominations now await Senate screening and confirmation.
