Tinubu Nominates New Heads for NUPRC, NMDPRA Following Resignations of Farouk Ahmed, Komolafe

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded the names of two nominees to the Senate for confirmation as chief executive officers of Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory agencies, following the resignation of the current office holders.

The President requested the Senate’s approval for the appointment of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The nominations come after the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed, CEO of NMDPRA, and Gbenga Komolafe, CEO of NUPRC. Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the two agencies established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

In his letter to the Senate, President Tinubu urged lawmakers to consider and confirm the nominees expeditiously.

Eyesan is a seasoned oil and gas professional with nearly 33 years of experience at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries. A graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, she retired as Executive Vice President, Upstreamin 2024. She previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC between 2019 and 2023.

Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, is a Chemical Engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, class of 1981. He was recently announced as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.

His extensive career includes serving as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, as well as chairing the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.

He also held the position of Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership on major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and key contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act.

Engineer Mohammed played pivotal roles in the delivery of landmark projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and the Nigeria LNG Train projects.

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