The Senate on Thursday screened President Bola Tinubu’s nominees for the leadership of Nigeria’s two key petroleum regulatory agencies, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The nominees, Engineer Saidu Muhammad for NMDPRA and Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan for NUPRC, were presented before the Committee of the Whole following separate requests transmitted to the Senate by the President.
At plenary, Senate President Godswill Akpabio read Tinubu’s letters seeking confirmation of the nominees in line with provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
Tinubu explained that Muhammad’s nomination as Authority Chief Executive of NMDPRA followed the resignation of the agency’s immediate past head and stressed the need for speedy confirmation to avoid a leadership vacuum in the regulation of midstream and downstream petroleum operations.
“I hope that the Senate will consider and confirm the nominee expeditiously,” the President said.
A similar request was made for the confirmation of Eyesan as Commission Chief Executive of the NUPRC, with Tinubu noting that continuity and stability were required in the regulation of the upstream petroleum sector.
Due to the strategic importance of both agencies, Akpabio referred the nominations to the Committee of the Whole for immediate consideration.
The screening exercise, held at Senate Room 117, was largely routine, with the nominees asked to take a bow after their credentials were reviewed and a few questions posed.
The nominations followed the recent resignation of Farouk Ahmed, former Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, and Gbenga Komolafe, former head of the NUPRC, marking a major leadership change in Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory space.
Ahmed’s exit came amid controversy surrounding allegations by the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, over regulatory decisions affecting the downstream sector, including a petition alleging economic sabotage and questionable personal wealth.
Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the University of Benin, spent over three decades at the NNPC and its subsidiaries, retiring as Executive Vice President, Upstream. Muhammad, a Chemical Engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, previously served as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company.
Both nominees are expected to be confirmed by the Senate on Friday.
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