President Bola Tinubu has formally forwarded 21 nominations to the Senate, seeking confirmation as new members of the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC and Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
In a letter to President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, the President nominated Senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the NUPRC board. Abe, a two-term senator representing Rivers South East, is a former NNPC board member and currently chairs the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, other nominees for the NUPRC board include former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna State, Paul Yaro Jezhi, and a former deputy director of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, Sunday Adebayo Babalola, both proposed as non-executive commissioners.
The President also put forward executive commissioners for NUPRC, including Muhammed Sabo Lamido (Finance), Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage), Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), Henry Darlington Oki (Development and Production), Indabawa Bashari Alka (Corporate Services and Administration), Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety, and Environment), and Olayemi Adeboyejo as Secretary and Legal Adviser.
Some of these are reappointments from previous administrations, while others are new appointments under President Tinubu.
In a separate letter, President Tinubu nominated Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer with over 30 years of experience in energy and natural resources, as chairman of the NMDPRA board.
Adeniji previously served as a technical adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas issues and was part of the World Bank’s Oil and Gas Policy team advising the Nigerian government.
Other NMDPRA board nominees include Kenneth Kobani and Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members, along with executive directors Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), and Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration).
Additional members include Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Murtala Aminu (Corporate Services), Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Barrister Olawale Dawodu as Secretary and Legal Adviser.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to approve the nominees swiftly, noting that the nominations follow the recent confirmation of CEOs for both agencies including Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan for NUPRC and Saidu Aliyu Mohammed for NMDPRA.
The President emphasised that the nominees are expected to perform their regulatory duties with professionalism, ensuring effective governance in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
