By Cross Udo and Ben Adoga, Abuja
President Bola Tinubu has forwarded two separate letters to the Senate, seeking confirmation of 21 nominees to the governing boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), in a move aimed at strengthening regulation of the oil and gas sector.
Among the nominees is former Rivers South-East Senator Magnus Abe, who was appointed Chairman of the NUPRC board.
Abe is a former member of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and currently serves as Chairman of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
Also nominated to the NUPRC board as non-executive commissioners are Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Mr Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
President Tinubu further nominated seven executive commissioners to the NUPRC board. They include 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 as Secretary and Legal Adviser.
While Lamido and Adeboyejo were initially appointed in 2022 and Alka in 2023, the President named Inyang, Ezeala, Oki, Tijani, Jezhi and Babalola as fresh appointees.
In a separate letter, President Tinubu nominated Mr Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, an energy law expert with over three decades of experience, as Chairman of the NMDPRA board. Adeniji previously served as Special Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum and was part of the World Bank Oil and Gas Policy team that advised Nigeria on petroleum sector reforms.
He is currently Managing Partner at ENR Advisory.
Other nominees to the NMDPRA board include Chief Kenneth Kobani and Mrs Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members.
Kobani is a former Minister of State for Trade and a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government.
The President also nominated Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon Processing Plants), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), and Dr Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration) as executive directors, alongside Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Murtala Aminu (Corporate Services), Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Barrister Olawale Dawodu as Board Secretary and Legal Adviser.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to expedite action on the confirmation requests, following the recent approval of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA. He charged all nominees to discharge their duties with professionalism in regulating the nation’s oil and gas industry.
•Wike lauds Tinubu, cites Rivers’ growing federal presence
Reacting to the nominations, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, commended President Tinubu for appointing Abe and Kobani, describing the move as a clear demonstration of goodwill towards Rivers State.
Speaking during a “thank you” tour of Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, Wike said Rivers State had benefited significantly from federal appointments under the Tinubu administration, describing the development as unprecedented.
“These nominations show that Mr President keeps his promises and honours his agreements,” Wike said, urging Rivers people to sustain their support for the administration.
Also speaking, Chairman of Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, Vincent Nemieoboka, and Ambassador Mourine Tamuno thanked the President for the appointments, assuring continued support from the area for the Tinubu administration.
