Tinubu seeks Senate approval for new NMDPRA, NUPRC boards
President Bola Tinubu
Abdullateef Fowewe
President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to confirm 21 nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), following recent changes in the leadership of both agencies.
In a State House press statement signed on Monday by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, the presidency announced that “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has written two letters 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).”
In the first letter to the Senate, Tinubu nominated former Rivers South East senator, Magnus Abe, as chairman of the NUPRC board.
Abe is described in the statement as “a former NNPC board member and current chairman of the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.”
Other nominees for the NUPRC board include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi and Sunday Adebayo Babalola as non-executive commissioners.
Jezhi is “a former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna,” while Babalola is “a former deputy director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), which was abolished by the PIA in 2021.”
The President also put forward several executive commissioners:
• Muhammed Sabo Lamido, executive commissioner for finance
• Edu Inyang, executive commissioner for exploration and acreage
• Justin Ezeala, executive commissioner for economic regulation and strategic planning
• Henry Darlington Oki, executive commissioner for development and production
• Indabawa Bashari Alka, executive commissioner for corporate services and administration
• Mahmood Tijani, executive commissioner for health, safety and environment
• Ms Olayemi Adeboyejo, secretary and legal adviser
The release notes that “former President Buhari appointed Lamido and Adeboyejo in 2022, while President Tinubu appointed Alka in 2023,” adding that “Inyang, Ezeala, the former managing director of Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited, Mahmood Tijani, Babalola and Jezhi are new appointees of President Tinubu.”
In a second letter, Tinubu nominated energy lawyer Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji as chairman of the NMDPRA board.
According to the statement, “Adeniji has over 30 years of experience in energy and natural resources issues.
He was a special technical adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas until 2018.”
Adeniji previously served “as a member of the Oil & Gas Policy team at the World Bank, which advised the Government of Nigeria on the reform and restructuring of the petroleum sector, including the development of the Strategic Gas Plan for Nigeria,” and is currently “the managing partner at ENR Advisory.”
The President also nominated Chief Kenneth Kobani and Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members.
Kobani is “a former minister of state for trade under President Jonathan and secretary to the government of Rivers State, under Nyesom Wike.”
Other NMDPRA nominees include:
• Abiodun Adeniji, executive director of finance
• Francis Ogaree, executive director of hydrocarbon
• Oluwole Adama, executive director of midstream and downstream gas infrastructure
• Dr Mustapha Lamorde, executive director of corporate services and administration
The statement recalls that “President Tinubu appointed Adama in 2024, while late President Buhari appointed Lamorde and Adeniji in 2021 and Ogaree in 2022.”
Additional members proposed for the NMDPRA board are:
• Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa, executive director, distribution systems
• Adeyemi Murtala Aminu, executive director, corporate services
• Ms Modie Ogechukwu, executive director, economic regulation and strategic planning
• Barrister Olawale Dawodu, board secretary and legal adviser, described as “an industry player” who “was, at a time, the Financial Reporting Manager at Exxon Nigerian subsidiaries.”
The presidency disclosed that “the President urged the Senate to approve the nominees expeditiously.”
The requests come on the heels of the Senate’s recent confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as chief executive officer (CEO) of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.
According to the statement, “Mr President has charged all the appointees and nominees to discharge their duties and responsibilities professionally as regulators of the oil and gas sectors.”
