President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded two separate requests to the Senate, seeking confirmation of 21 nominees to serve on the boards of Nigeria’s oil and gas regulatory agencies, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
For the NUPRC, the President nominated former Rivers South-East senator, Magnus Abe, as board chairman. Abe is a former member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) board and currently heads the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
Two non-executive commissioners were also nominated: Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources.
In addition, Tinubu submitted the names of several executive commissioners for the NUPRC board.
These include Muhammed Sabo Lamido (Finance), Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage), Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Henry Darlington Oki (Development and Production). Others are Indabawa Bashari Alka (Corporate Services and Administration), Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety and Environment), and Olayemi Adeboyejo, who will serve as board secretary and legal adviser.
Some of the nominees, including Lamido and Adeboyejo, were initially appointed under former President Muhammadu Buhari, while Alka was appointed by President Tinubu in 2023. The remaining nominees are new appointments.
In a separate letter, the President requested Senate confirmation for appointments to the NMDPRA board. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, an energy lawyer with over three decades of experience, was nominated as board chairman. Adeniji has previously advised the Federal Government and international institutions on petroleum sector reforms and currently leads ENR Advisory.
Also nominated as non-executive board members are former minister and ex-Rivers State SSG, Kenneth Kobani, and Asabe Ahmed. Executive directors named for confirmation include Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon Processing), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), and Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration).
Additional board members include Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Murtala Aminu (Corporate Services), Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Olawale Dawodu, who will serve as board secretary and legal adviser.
President Tinubu urged lawmakers to act promptly on the confirmation requests, noting that the nominations followed the recent appointment and Senate confirmation of new chief executives for both agencies. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan was confirmed as CEO of NUPRC, while Saidu Aliyu Mohammed was approved as CEO of NMDPRA.
The President emphasized that all nominees are expected to carry out their responsibilities with professionalism as regulators of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
