Tinubu nominates successors, as NMDPRA’s Ahmed, NUPRC’s Komolafe resign

President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Bayo Onanuga, Presidential Spokesman in a statement on Wednesday, said the requests followed the resignation of  Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA and Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC.

Both officials were appointed in 2021 by the late  former President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the two regulatory agencies created by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Recall that Ahmed had been entangled in alleged corruption and abuse of public office, spending as much as $5 million to sponsor each of his four children per annum in private schools in Switzerland.

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According to Onanuga, “To fill these positions, President Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting expedited confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.”

Onanuga  described the two nominees as ” seasoned professionals in the oil and gas industry.

Eyesan, a graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the NNPC and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream (2023–2024), and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC from 2019 to 2023.

Similarly, Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. He was announced today as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.

His prior roles include Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and Nigerian Gas Company, as well as Chair of the boards of West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.

He also served as Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

The statement added that “Mohammed played a pivotal role in delivering key projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train.”