The Senate will on Friday consider the confirmation of President Bola Tinubu’s nominees for the leadership of Nigeria’s two key petroleum regulatory agencies following their screening by the Committee of the Whole on Thursday.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio announced at plenary that he had received two letters from President Tinubu seeking the confirmation of new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), in line with provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
In the letters, Tinubu nominated Engineer Saidu Muhammad as Authority Chief Executive of NMDPRA and Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Commission Chief Executive of NUPRC, following the resignations of the previous heads of both agencies. The President urged the Senate to act swiftly to prevent leadership vacuums in the agencies, which oversee critical operations in the midstream, downstream, and upstream sectors.
The nominations were referred to the Committee of the Whole for prompt consideration. During Thursday’s screening at Senate Room 117, the exercise was largely routine, with both nominees’ résumés verified and only a few questions asked.
The move comes after the resignations of Farouk Ahmed, former NMDPRA Chief Executive, and Gbenga Komolafe, former NUPRC Chief Executive, amid controversy over regulatory actions affecting the downstream sector. Ahmed had been accused by Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, of economic sabotage and was petitioned to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over allegations including payments for his children’s education abroad. Komolafe’s exit, though unrelated to the Dangote dispute, was part of a simultaneous leadership change in both agencies.
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Confirming the nominations, the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described both nominees as seasoned oil and gas professionals. Eyesan, a graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years at NNPC and its subsidiaries, retiring as Executive Vice President, Upstream, between 2023 and 2024. She also served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, from 2019 to 2023.
Muhammad, born in 1957 in Gombe State, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University. He previously served as Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, and chaired boards including the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
The Senate’s confirmation of the nominees is expected to stabilise leadership at the two critical petroleum regulatory agencies and ensure continuity in the oversight of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.