President Bola Tinubu has formally requested the Senate’s confirmation of 21 nominees to fill board positions at Nigeria’s two key petroleum sector regulators—the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The request was conveyed in two separate letters addressed to the Senate and announced in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja by the President’s spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga.
For the NUPRC, President Tinubu nominated former senator Magnus Abe as Chairman of the Board. Abe represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District for two terms and previously served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He currently chairs the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
Also nominated as non-executive commissioners for the NUPRC board are Paul Jezhi, a former Chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Sunday Babalola, a former Deputy Director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources.
The President further submitted names for executive commissioner roles, including Muhammed Lamido (Finance), Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage), Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Henry Oki (Development and Production).
Additional executive nominees include Indabawa Alka (Corporate Services and Administration), Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety and Environment), and Olayemi Adeboyejo as Secretary and Legal Adviser. While Lamido and Adeboyejo were initially appointed in 2022 under the previous administration, Alka was appointed in 2023. Other nominees, including Inyang, Ezeala, Tijani, Babalola, and Jezhi, are new entrants to the board.
In a separate request relating to the NMDPRA, Tinubu nominated Adegbite Adeniji as Chairman of the Board. Adeniji is a legal practitioner with over three decades of experience in energy and natural resources and previously served as Special Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas matters. He is currently the Managing Partner of ENR Advisory.
Other non-executive nominees include Kenneth Kobani, a former Minister of State for Trade and former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, as well as Asabe Ahmed.
Executive nominees for the NMDPRA board include Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon Processing), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), and Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration). While Adama was appointed in 2024, Adeniji and Lamorde were appointed in 2021, and Ogaree in 2022.
Further appointments include Yahaya Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Aminu (Corporate Services), Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Olawale Dawodu as Board Secretary and Legal Adviser.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to consider the nominations promptly, citing the need for effective regulatory oversight in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. The request follows the recent Senate confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of NUPRC and Saidu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA.
The President also charged all nominees to uphold professionalism and transparency in carrying out their regulatory responsibilities across the petroleum value chain.
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