President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded nominations for board members of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to the Senate for confirmation.
Okay News reports that the President sent two separate letters seeking approval for 21 nominees to serve on the governing boards of the two key regulatory agencies in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
In the first letter, Tinubu nominated Senator Magnus Abe, a former two-term Senator representing Rivers South East and ex-NNPC board member, as Chairman of the NUPRC board.
Abe currently chairs the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
Non-executive commissioners include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna State, and Sunday Adebayo Babalola, ex-deputy director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources.
Executive commissioners nominated are Muhammed Sabo Lamido (Finance), Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage), Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), Henry Darlington Oki (Development and Production), Indabawa Bashari Alka (Corporate Services and Administration), Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety, and Environment), and Olayemi Adeboyejo (Secretary and Legal Adviser).
Some appointees, including Lamido, Adeboyejo, and Alka, were previously named by former Presidents Buhari and Tinubu.
In the second letter, Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer with over 30 years in energy and natural resources, was nominated as NMDPRA board Chairman.
Adeniji served as special technical adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum and contributed to World Bank oil and gas policy reforms in Nigeria.
Non-executive members include Chief Kenneth Kobani, former Minister of State for Trade under President Jonathan and ex-Secretary to Rivers State Government, and Asabe Ahmed.
Executive directors proposed are Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), Dr Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration), Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Murtala Aminu (Corporate Services), Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Barrister Olawale Dawodu (Board Secretary and Legal Adviser).
Several nominees continue from prior administrations.
The nominations follow recent Senate confirmations of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as NUPRC CEO and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as NMDPRA CEO.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to expedite confirmations, charging appointees to uphold professionalism in regulating the petroleum sector.
The boards will oversee implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act in upstream, midstream, and downstream operations.
 and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) to the Senate for confirmation.){kind=link}