President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded the names of two nominees to the Senate for confirmation as new chief executives of Nigeria’s key petroleum regulatory agencies, following the resignation of their current heads.
The development comes after Engineer Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), stepped down from office.
This was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday and signed by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Ahmed and Komolafe were both appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
In separate letters to the Senate, President Tinubu requested the fast-track confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA.
According to the Presidency, the nominees are seasoned professionals with extensive experience in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Eyesan is an Economics graduate of the University of Benin and spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream, in 2024, after previously serving as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, between 2019 and 2023.
Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1981 with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
He was also announced on the same day as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
Mohammed has held several top management positions in the oil and gas sector, including Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company. He also chaired the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
In addition, he served as Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Gas and Power Directorate, where he played a key role in shaping major gas policies and projects, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act.
He was also involved in several national energy infrastructure projects, including the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train developments.
