President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally asked the Senate to confirm 21 nominees for appointment into the governing boards of Nigeria’s two key petroleum regulatory agencies — the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
In separate letters addressed to the upper chamber, the president proposed former senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the NUPRC board. Abe, who represented Rivers South-East in the National Assembly, has previously served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company and currently heads the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
Two other nominees were named as non-executive commissioners for the upstream regulator. They are Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former leader of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Sunday Adebayo Babalola, who once served as a deputy director at the former Department of Petroleum Resources before its dissolution under the Petroleum Industry Act.
The president also forwarded the names of several candidates for executive commissioner positions at the NUPRC. The nominees include Muhammed Sabo Lamido for finance; Edu Inyang for exploration and acreage management; Justin Ezeala for economic regulation and strategic planning; and Henry Darlington Oki for development and production. Others are Indabawa Bashari Alka for corporate services and administration, Mahmood Tijani for health, safety and environment, and Olayemi Adeboyejo, who will serve as secretary and legal adviser.
While some of the nominees were appointed in earlier years, others are new selections by the Tinubu administration. Officials confirmed that Lamido and Adeboyejo were first appointed in 2022, Alka in 2023, while Inyang, Ezeala, Tijani, Jezhi and Babalola are fresh nominees.
In a separate communication to the Senate, President Tinubu named Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji as chairman of the NMDPRA board. Adeniji is an energy law expert with more than three decades of experience and previously advised the federal government and international institutions on petroleum sector reforms. He currently leads ENR Advisory as managing partner.
Also proposed as non-executive members of the NMDPRA board are former Minister of State for Trade, Chief Kenneth Kobani, and Mrs Asabe Ahmed.
For executive director roles at the midstream and downstream regulator, the president nominated Abiodun Adeniji for finance; Francis Ogaree for hydrocarbon operations; Oluwole Adama for midstream and downstream gas infrastructure; and Dr Mustapha Lamorde for corporate services and administration. Adama was appointed in 2024, while Lamorde and Adeniji date back to 2021 appointments, and Ogaree to 2022.
Additional board nominees include Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa for distribution systems; Adeyemi Murtala Aminu for corporate services; Modie Ogechukwu for economic regulation and strategic planning; and Olawale Dawodu as board secretary and legal adviser. Dawodu is a petroleum industry professional who previously worked with ExxonMobil’s Nigerian operations.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to treat the confirmation process with urgency. The nominations come shortly after the Senate confirmed Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as chief executive officers of the NUPRC and NMDPRA respectively.
The president has tasked all nominees to uphold professionalism and diligence in overseeing regulation of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
