ABUJA, Nigeria — President Bola Tinubu has requested the Nigerian Senate to confirm new chief executives for the nation’s primary oil and gas regulatory bodies following the sudden resignations of the current heads.
In separate letters read on the Senate floor Wednesday, Tinubu nominated Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan to lead the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Saidu Aliyu Mohammed to head the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The transition follows the departures of Gbenga Komolafe (NUPRC) and Farouk Ahmed (NMDPRA), both of whom were appointed in 2021 under the Petroleum Industry Act.
“The nominees are seasoned professionals in the oil and gas industry,” said Chief Bayo Onanuga, spokesman for the President, in a statement confirming the move.
Eyesan brings over three decades of experience from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd, where she recently served as Executive Vice President of Upstream operations. Mohammed, a chemical engineer and former Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, was concurrently announced Wednesday as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
The leadership shakeup comes amid high-profile friction between the regulatory authorities and industry giants. On Monday, Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, filed a formal petition with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) against the outgoing NMDPRA boss, Farouk Ahmed.
In the petition, filed by attorney Ogwu Onoja, SAN, Dangote alleged that Ahmed’s lifestyle far exceeds his legitimate earnings as a public servant. Specifically, the petition alleges Ahmed spent over $7 million on his children’s education in Switzerland.
“The commission is urged to arrest, investigate and prosecute the NMDPRA boss,” the petition stated, asserting that “public sector salary couldn’t justify such expenditure.”
The Senate is expected to begin the screening process for Eyesan and Mohammed in the coming days to avoid a regulatory vacuum in Nigeria’s most vital economic sector.
