President Bola Tinubu has written 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).
This is contained in a statement issued by Presidential Spokesperson, Mr Bayo Onanuga, on Monday in Abuja.
In the first letter, Tinubu nominated Sen. Magnus Abe as Chairman of the NUPRC Board.
Abe, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District for two terms, is a former board member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and currently chairs the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
Other nominees for the NUPRC Board as non-executive commissioners are Mr Paul Jezhi, a former Chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Mr Sunday Babalola, a former Deputy Director of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources.
The president also nominated executive commissioners to the board.
They include, Mr Muhammed Lamido (Finance); Mr Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage); Mr Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning); and Mr Henry Oki (Development and Production).
Others are Mr Indabawa Alka (Corporate Services and Administration); Mr Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety and Environment); and Ms Olayemi Adeboyejo as Secretary/Legal Adviser.
Lamido and Adeboyejo were appointed in 2022 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, while Alka was appointed by President Tinubu in 2023. Inyang, Ezeala, Tijani, Babalola and Jezhi are new nominees.
In a second letter, President Tinubu nominated Mr Adegbite Adeniji, a lawyer, as Chairman of the NMDPRA Board.
Adeniji has over 30 years’ 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.
He is currently the Managing Partner at ENR Advisory.
Also nominated as non-executive members are Chief Kenneth Kobani, a former Minister of State for Trade and former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, and Mrs Asabe Ahmed.
Other nominees for the NMDPRA Board are Mr Abiodun Adeniji (Executive Director, Finance); Mr Francis Ogaree (Executive Director, Hydrocarbon); Mr Oluwole Adama (Executive Director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure); and Dr Mustapha Lamorde (Executive Director, Corporate Services and Administration).
Adama was appointed in 2024, while Adeniji and Lamorde were appointed in 2021 and Ogaree in 2022 by the late President Muhammadu Buhari.
Additional nominees are Mr Yahaya Yinusa (Executive Director, Distribution Systems); Mr Adeyemi Aminu (Executive Director, Corporate Services); Ms Modie Ogechukwu (Executive Director, Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning); and Mr Olawale Dawodu as Board Secretary/Legal Adviser.
The President urged the Senate to consider and approve the nominees expeditiously.
The request followed the recent confirmation by the Senate of Mr Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC and Saidu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA.
Tinubu charged all nominees to discharge their duties professionally in regulating Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
