President Bola Tinubu has nominated Magnus Abe as the chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and Adegbite Adeniji as the chairman of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
In two separate letters sent to the Senate, Tinubu requested the confirmation of Abe and Adeniyi as chairmen of the boards of the NMDPRA and NUPRC, respectively.
The president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated that Abe, a former board member of the NNPCL and the current chairman of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall, has been nominated for the NUPRC chairmanship.
The other nominees for the NUPRC board include Paul Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Kaduna, and Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director of the now-defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
Onanuga noted that both Jezhi and Babalola will serve as non-executive commissioners.
Additionally, President Tinubu nominated several executive commissioners for the board, including Muhammed 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; and Henry Oki as executive commissioner for development and production.
Other nominees include Indabawa Alka as executive commissioner for corporate services and administration; Mahmood Tijani as executive commissioner for health, safety, and environment; and Ms. Olayemi Adeboyejo as secretary and legal adviser.
Lamido and Adeboyejo were appointed by former President Buhari in 2022, while Alka was appointed by President Tinubu in 2023.
Inyang, Ezeala, Tijani, Babalola, and Jezhi are new appointees by Tinubu.
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In his second letter to the Senate, President Tinubu nominated Adegbite Adeniji, a lawyer, as the chairman of the NMDPRA board.
Adeniji brings over 30 years of experience in energy and natural resources.
He served as a special technical adviser to the minister of state for petroleum on upstream and gas until 2018 and was part of the oil and gas policy team at the World Bank, which advised the federal government on petroleum sector reforms, including the development of Nigeria’s strategic gas plan.
Tinubu also nominated Chief Kenneth Kobani and Mrs. Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members.
Kobani previously served as minister of state for trade under President Goodluck Jonathan and as Secretary to the State Government (SSG) of Rivers State under Nyesom Wike, Onanuga added.
Other nominees include Abiodun Adeniji for the role of executive director of finance and Francis Ogaree as executive director of hydrocarbon, among others.
