The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise has issued an urgent appeal to Nigeria’s newly appointed petroleum regulators, calling for a fundamental shift in policy that would prioritize domestically refined products over imports and accelerate the country’s crude oil production.
The intervention comes as Saidu Aliyu Mohammed settles into his role as chief executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan takes the helm at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. Both assumed their positions within the past week following the resignations of their predecessors, Ahmed Farouk and Gbenga Komolafe, respectively.
In a statement released to the media, CPPE characterized the leadership transition as a “strategic opportunity” to fundamentally reposition Nigeria’s oil and gas regulatory environment, emphasizing that the moment demands bold action rather than incremental adjustment.
At the heart of CPPE’s prescription is a call to end what it describes as a critical market distortion: the current system whereby imported petroleum products compete with locally refined products under vastly different regulatory and fiscal conditions.
“Nigeria must end the current distortion whereby imported petroleum products are made to compete with locally refined products under unequal regulatory and fiscal conditions,” the organization stated, arguing that genuine competition requires all market participants to operate within identical policy, tax, and regulatory frameworks.
The group is pushing for targeted fiscal incentives, regulatory support, and infrastructural backing for both public and private refineries, alongside measures to attract new investment in refining capacity. This approach, CPPE argues, aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Nigeria-First” policy direction and broader industrialization agenda.
CPPE framed its call not merely as investor protection but as a matter of national economic security. The organization emphasized that a robust domestic refining base would deliver multiple strategic benefits: job creation, conservation of foreign exchange reserves, macroeconomic stability, and the potential development of export-oriented refining capacity.
“This is not merely to protect investors but to safeguard Nigeria’s long-term economic interests,” the statement noted, stressing that energy self-sufficiency remains fundamental to building economic resilience in Africa’s largest economy.
Turning to the upstream sector, CPPE urged the NUPRC under Mrs. Eyesan’s leadership to prioritize crude oil and gas production growth through policies designed to attract fresh investment across both onshore and offshore assets.
The organization set an explicit production target, calling on the commission to drive crude oil output to a minimum of two million barrels per day—a significant increase from current levels and a goal that reflects both fiscal necessity and strategic ambition as global energy markets continue their transition away from fossil fuels.
“Nigeria must maximize the value of its hydrocarbon resources while the global energy transition accelerates,” CPPE warned, highlighting the narrowing window of opportunity for oil-dependent economies.
Additional priorities identified for the upstream regulator include expanded investment in gas production, improved security for oil installations, and strict enforcement of domestic crude supply obligations to local refineries—a measure critical to ensuring that Nigeria’s own refineries have adequate feedstock.
CPPE commended President Tinubu for what it characterized as a deliberate reset of Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory architecture through these appointments, expressing optimism that the new leadership could catalyze meaningful change across the oil and gas value chain.
The timing of these appointments carries particular significance. Nigeria, despite being Africa’s largest oil producer, has for decades relied heavily on imported refined petroleum products—a costly paradox that has drained foreign reserves, created persistent fuel supply challenges, and left the economy vulnerable to global price shocks.
Recent developments, including the restart of the Dangote Refinery and ongoing rehabilitation of state-owned facilities, have raised hopes that Nigeria might finally break its import dependency. However, observers note that realizing this vision will require not just infrastructure but supportive policy frameworks of the kind CPPE is now demanding.
The challenge facing Mohammed and Eyesan is substantial: transforming regulatory institutions often criticized as obstacles into engines of sectoral growth, all while navigating complex political pressures, entrenched interests, and the technical complexities of a global industry in flux.
Whether the new regulators will embrace CPPE’s vision—and whether they possess the political backing and institutional capacity to implement it—remains to be seen. What is clear is that Nigeria’s private sector is watching closely, and expectations for meaningful reform have rarely been higher.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Nigeria’s private sector is pushing the country’s newly appointed oil regulators to end the practice of favoring imported fuel over locally refined products. The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise argues that, despite being Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria has wasted decades and billions in foreign reserves importing refined petroleum—a costly contradiction that must end now.
The group wants new policy chiefs Saidu Aliyu Mohammed and Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan to create equal regulatory conditions that give domestic refineries a fair chance against imports, while boosting crude production to at least two million barrels per day.
With facilities like the Dangote Refinery now operational, this leadership change represents Nigeria’s best opportunity in years to achieve energy self-sufficiency, create jobs, stabilize the economy, and stop the financial hemorrhage caused by fuel imports—but only if the new regulators act decisively to prioritize homegrown refining capacity over the status quo.
