President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the names of two new chief executives to the Senate for confirmation following the resignation of the heads of Nigeria’s upstream and downstream petroleum regulators.
The President asked the Senate to approve the nominations of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC and Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Wednesday, the nominations followed the resignation of Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the NMDPRA, and Gbenga Komolafe, as CEO of the NUPRC.
Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to head the regulatory agencies created under the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA.
The Presidency said President Tinubu requested an expedited confirmation process to ensure continuity and stability in the oil and gas sector, which remains critical to Nigeria’s economic reforms and energy security.
Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Limited and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream, serving from 2023 to 2024, and previously worked as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy between 2019 and 2023.
Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, is a Chemical Engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was announced on Tuesday as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His career includes stints as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, as well as chairmanship of the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
He also served as Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership on major gas initiatives, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and key contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act.
Mohammed played pivotal roles in delivering strategic gas infrastructure projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano, AKK Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train projects.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
