President Bola Tinubu has forwarded letters to the Senate requesting 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). The announcement was made by the President’s Special Adviser on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

For the NUPRC board, Senator Magnus Abe was nominated as Chairman. Abe, a two-term senator representing Rivers South East, is a former NNPC board member and currently chairs the National Agency of the Great Green Wall. Other nominees include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi and Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola as non-executive commissioners. Executive positions were proposed for Muhammed Sabo Lamido (Finance), Edu Inyang (Exploration & Acreage), Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation & Strategic Planning), Henry Darlington Oki (Development & Production), Indabawa Bashari Alka (Corporate Services & Administration), Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety & Environment), and Ms. Olayemi Adeboyejo as Secretary and Legal Adviser.

Some of these nominees, including Lamido and Adeboyejo, were previously appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, while Alka was appointed by President Tinubu in 2023. The rest are new appointments.

For the NMDPRA board, Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in energy and natural resources, was nominated as Chairman. Adeniji previously served as Special Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas issues and advised the government as part of the World Bank Oil & Gas Policy team. Other nominees include Chief Kenneth Kobani and Mrs. Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members. Executive members include Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon), Oluwole Adama (Midstream & Downstream Gas Infrastructure), and Dr. Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services & Administration). Additional board members include Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa, Adeyemi Murtala Aminu, Ms. Modie Ogechukwu, and Barrister Olawale Dawodu (Secretary & Legal Adviser).

President Tinubu urged the Senate to confirm the nominees promptly, following the recent appointments of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA. He charged all appointees to perform their duties with professionalism to ensure effective oversight of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.