BREAKING: President Tinubu Nominates New Chairmen For NUPRC And NMDPRA Boards Alongside 19 Other Members

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has submitted two letters to the Senate seeking confirmation of 21 nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). According to Ireporter Online, the announcement was confirmed on Monday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

In the first letter, Senator Magnus Abe was nominated to serve as chairman of the NUPRC board. Abe, who represented Rivers South East in the Senate for two terms, previously served on the NNPC board and currently chairs the National Agency of the Great Green Wall. Other nominations for the NUPRC board include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna, and Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola, former deputy director of the now-abolished Department of Petroleum Resources. Both are proposed as non-executive commissioners.

President Tinubu also nominated executive commissioners to the NUPRC board, 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 Ms. Olayemi Adeboyejo (Secretary and Legal Adviser). While Lamido and Adeboyejo were appointed by former President Buhari, and Alka by President Tinubu, others are new appointments.

In the second letter, Mr. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji was nominated to chair the NMDPRA board. Adeniji is a lawyer with over 30 years of experience in energy and natural resources and previously served as special technical adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas matters. His career includes advisory roles at the World Bank and leadership in the Strategic Gas Plan for Nigeria.

Other nominees for the NMDPRA board include Chief Kenneth Kobani and Mrs. Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members, and executive directors Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), Dr. Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration), Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Murtala Aminu (Corporate Services), Ms. Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Barrister Olawale Dawodu (Secretary and Legal Adviser). Several of these executives were previously appointed under former administrations, while others are new appointments under President Tinubu.

The President urged the Senate to expedite confirmation, following the recent approval of CEOs for both agencies: Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan for NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed for NMDPRA. Tinubu emphasized that all appointees are expected to uphold professionalism in regulating Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.