President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally requested the Senate’s approval for the appointment of new chief executive officers for Nigeria’s key petroleum regulatory agencies, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The request comes in the wake of the resignation of the Chief Executive Officers of both agencies. Farouk Ahmed stepped down as head of the NMDPRA, while Gbenga Komolafe resigned from his position as Chief Executive of the NUPRC.
Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari following the establishment of the regulators under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
In a letter addressed to the Senate, President Tinubu urged lawmakers to expedite the confirmation process for the nominees proposed to fill the vacant positions.
He nominated 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, both nominees are highly experienced professionals with decades of expertise in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Ms. Eyesan holds a degree in Economics from the University of Benin and spent nearly 33 years at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries.
She retired in 2024 as Executive Vice President, Upstream, and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC from 2019 to 2023.
Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1981. He was recently named an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His career includes serving as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company.
He has also chaired the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
Additionally, Engineer Mohammed served as Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Gas and Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership on major gas initiatives and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and key inputs into the Petroleum Industry Act.
He played a pivotal role in delivering critical energy infrastructure projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and multiple Nigeria LNG train projects.
