President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally approached the Senate with two separate letters, requesting legislative confirmation for 21 nominees selected to serve on the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
In the first correspondence, the President proposed Senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the board of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Abe, who previously represented Rivers South East in the National Assembly for two terms, has held several strategic positions in the energy sector, including serving as a board member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He is also the current chairman of the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
A statement issued on Monday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed that other nominees to the NUPRC board include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Sunday Adebayo Babalola, who once served as a deputy director at the now-defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, dissolved following the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021.
Both nominees are expected to function as non-executive commissioners.
Beyond these appointments, President Tinubu also forwarded the names of individuals nominated as executive commissioners to the commission’s board.
Among them are Muhammed Sabo Lamido, who is designated for finance; Edu Inyang, responsible for exploration and acreage; Justin Ezeala, tasked with economic regulation and strategic planning; and Henry Darlington Oki, who will oversee development and production. Others include Indabawa Bashari Alka, nominated for corporate services and administration, Mahmood Tijani, proposed for health, safety and environment, as well as Olayemi Adeboyejo, who is slated to serve as secretary and legal adviser.
While Lamido and Adeboyejo were originally appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022, Alka received his appointment from President Tinubu in 2023. Inyang, Ezeala, Mahmood Tijani, Babalola and Jezhi are fresh nominations made by the current administration.
In a separate letter to the Senate, President Tinubu also requested confirmation for appointments to the board of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
Leading the list is Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a legal practitioner nominated as chairman of the authority’s board. Adeniji brings over three decades of experience in the energy and natural resources sector, having previously served as a special technical adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas matters until 2018.
His professional background also includes participation in the World Bank’s Oil and Gas Policy team, which supported Nigeria’s efforts at reforming and restructuring the petroleum industry, including work on the Strategic Gas Plan. He currently serves as the managing partner of ENR Advisory.
The President also nominated Chief Kenneth Kobani and Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members of the board. Kobani previously held office as Minister of State for Trade under the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan and later served as Secretary to the Rivers State Government during the tenure of Nyesom Wike.
Additional nominees submitted for Senate confirmation include Abiodun Adeniji as executive director of finance, Francis Ogaree as executive director of hydrocarbon, Oluwole Adama as executive director overseeing midstream and downstream gas infrastructure, and Dr Mustapha Lamorde as executive director of corporate services and administration.
Adama was appointed in 2024 by President Tinubu, while Lamorde and Adeniji were appointed by the late President Buhari in 2021, with Ogaree joining the board in 2022.
Further proposed members of the NMDPRA board include Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa as executive director of distribution systems, Adeyemi Murtala Aminu as executive director of corporate services, Modie Ogechukwu as executive director of economic regulation and strategic planning, and Barrister Olawale Dawodu, nominated to serve as board secretary and legal adviser. Dawodu is a seasoned industry professional who previously worked as a financial reporting manager within Exxon’s Nigerian subsidiaries.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to consider and approve the nominations without delay, noting that the requests came shortly after the appointment of chief executive officers for both regulatory bodies.
The Senate has since confirmed Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as chief executive officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The President further charged all confirmed appointees and nominees to carry out their responsibilities with professionalism and diligence, emphasizing their crucial role in regulating Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
What you should know
These nominations are part of President Tinubu’s broader effort to fully operationalize the regulatory framework introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act.
By seeking Senate confirmation for experienced professionals across both upstream and midstream/downstream agencies, the administration aims to strengthen governance, transparency and efficiency in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
The confirmation of board members follows the recent appointment of chief executives, signaling a move toward stabilizing leadership within the regulatory institutions that oversee one of the country’s most critical economic sectors.
