President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated former senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the NUPRC board. Abe, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District for two terms, previously served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and is currently chairman of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
This was contained in two separate letters forwarded to the Senate, seeking confirmation of 21 nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Other nominees to the NUPRC board as non-executive commissioners are Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Mr Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), which was dissolved following the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021.
President Tinubu also nominated several executive commissioners to the NUPRC board. They include Muhammed Sabo Lamido as executive commissioner for finance; Edu Inyang as executive commissioner for exploration and acreage; Justin Ezeala as executive commissioner for economic regulation and strategic planning; Henry Darlington Oki as executive commissioner for development and production; Indabawa Bashari Alka as executive commissioner for corporate services and administration; and Mahmood Tijani as executive commissioner for health, safety and environment. Ms Olayemi Adeboyejo was nominated as secretary and legal adviser to the commission.
NMDPRA Nominations
In a second letter, the President sought Senate confirmation for nominees to the board of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority. He nominated Mr. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer with over three decades of experience in energy and natural resources, as chairman of the NMDPRA board. Adeniji previously served as special technical adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas matters and was part of the World Bank Oil and Gas Policy team that advised Nigeria on petroleum sector reforms. He is currently managing partner at ENR Advisory.
Also nominated as non-executive members are Chief Kenneth Kobani, a former Minister of State for Trade and former Secretary to the Rivers State Government, and Mrs Asabe Ahmed.
Executive directors nominated to the NMDPRA board include Abiodun Adeniji (finance), Francis Ogaree (hydrocarbon), Oluwole Adama (midstream and downstream gas infrastructure), and Dr Mustapha Lamorde (corporate services and administration). Adama was appointed in 2024, while Lamorde, Adeniji and Ogaree were appointed between 2021 and 2022 under the previous administration.
Other proposed board members are Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa, executive director for distribution systems; Adeyemi Murtala Aminu, executive director for corporate services; Ms Modie Ogechukwu, executive director for economic regulation and strategic planning; and Barrister Olawale Dawodu as board secretary and legal adviser.