President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded the names of two nominees to the Senate for confirmation as chief executives of Nigeria’s petroleum regulators following the resignation of their incumbent heads.
The nominations, conveyed in separate letters to the Senate, came after Engineer Farouk Ahmed stepped down as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, while Gbenga Komolafe resigned as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). Both officials were appointed in 2021 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, shortly after the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
President Tinubu nominated Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan to lead the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, urging the Senate to give the requests expedited consideration.
A statement issued on Tuesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, described the nominees as “seasoned professionals with extensive experience across Nigeria’s oil and gas value chain.”
Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its subsidiaries. She retired in 2024 as Executive Vice President, Upstream, having earlier served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy between 2019 and 2023.
Engineer Mohammed, a Chemical Engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, is a former Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer for Gas and Power at NNPC. He has also served as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company.
According to the presidency, Mohammed has held several board-level positions, including chairmanship roles at the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries and NNPC Retail. He was also recently named an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
“Engineer Mohammed provided strategic leadership for key national gas initiatives, including the Gas Masterplan, the Gas Network Code and significant contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act,” the statement said.
It added that he played critical roles in the delivery of major projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline and Nigeria LNG expansion projects.
The Senate is expected to screen the nominees in the coming days, in line with constitutional requirements, before confirming their appointments.
