BREAKING: Tinubu appoints new members for NUPRC, NMDPRA Boards, seeks Senate approval

President Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate, seeking confirmation of 21 nominees for appointment into the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The development was made public on Monday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

According to the first letter addressed to the upper legislative chamber, the President nominated former Senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the board of the NUPRC.

Abe, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District for two terms, previously served as a member of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

He is also the current chairman of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.

Other nominees for the NUPRC board include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna, and Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR. Both will serve as non-executive commissioners.

President Tinubu also proposed several executive commissioners: Muhammed Sabo Lamido (Finance), Mr. Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage), Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), Henry Darlington Oki (Development and Production), Indabawa Bashari Alka (Corporate Services and Administration), Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety and Environment), and Ms. Olayemi Adeboyejo as Secretary and Legal Adviser.

Some of the nominees, including Lamido and Adeboyejo, were originally appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari, while Alka was appointed by President Tinubu in 2023. Others are new appointments by President Tinubu.

In a separate letter, Tinubu nominated Mr. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in energy and natural resources, as chairman of the NMDPRA board. Adeniji previously served as Special Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas issues and was part of the World Bank Oil & Gas Policy team advising the Nigerian government.

Other nominees for the NMDPRA board include Chief Kenneth Kobani and Mrs. Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members. Executive members nominated are Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), and Dr. Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration).

Additional board members include Mr. Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Murtala Aminu (Corporate Services), Ms. Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Barrister Olawale Dawodu (Secretary and Legal Adviser).

The President urged the Senate to confirm the nominees promptly, following the recent appointments of CEOs for both agencies: Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan for NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed for NMDPRA.

Tinubu charged all the appointees to discharge their regulatory duties with professionalism to ensure effective oversight of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

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