President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked Nigeria’s Senate to confirm 21 nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), agencies created under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to oversee the country’s oil and gas sector.
In letters read on the Senate floor, the president urged lawmakers to approve the nominees quickly, citing the need for stable leadership in energy regulation.
NUPRC Board Appointments and Energy Regulation
President Tinubu nominated former senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the NUPRC board. Abe previously represented Rivers South East in the Senate and has served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He is also chairman of the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
Other non-executive nominees include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna, and Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the now-defunct Department of Petroleum Resources, which was dissolved under the PIA in 2021.
The president also nominated several executive commissioners. They include Muhammed Sabo Lamido for finance; Edu Inyang for exploration and acreage; Justin Ezeala for economic regulation and strategic planning; and Henry Darlington Oki for development and production. Others are Indabawa Bashari Alka for corporate services, Mahmood Tijani for health, safety and environment, and Olayemi Adeboyejo as secretary and legal adviser.
Some of the nominees were first appointed under former President Muhammadu Buhari, while others are new appointments by Tinubu.
NMDPRA Leadership and Oil and Gas Infrastructure
For the NMDPRA, Tinubu nominated lawyer Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji as board chairman. Adeniji has more than 30 years of experience in energy and natural resources and previously advised Nigeria’s petroleum ministry. He also worked with the World Bank on oil and gas sector reforms.
Non-executive nominees include Chief Kenneth Kobani, a former minister of state for trade, and Asabe Ahmed.
The executive directors nominated cover finance, hydrocarbon processing, gas infrastructure, corporate services, distribution systems, and economic regulation. Barrister Olawale Dawodu was nominated as board secretary and legal adviser. He previously worked as a financial reporting manager at Exxon Nigerian subsidiaries.
The appointments are expected to shape how Nigeria manages fuel supply, gas infrastructure, safety standards, and investment under the PIA framework.
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