President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded to the Senate the nominations of new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for confirmation.
This is contained in a statement signed by Mr Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
According to the statement, the request followed the resignation of the chief executives of the two regulatory bodies, Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA and Mr Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission,” Onanuga said.
He explained that Ahmed and Komolafe were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to head the agencies established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
To fill the vacancies, the President nominated Ms Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA.
“The President has written to the Senate, requesting the expedited confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as CEO of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of the NMDPRA,” the statement said.
Onanuga noted that the nominees are seasoned professionals with extensive experience in the oil and gas industry.
He said Eyesan, a graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries.
“She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream, from 2023 to 2024, and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at the NNPC from 2019 to 2023,” he said.
The presidential aide added that Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering.
“He was announced today as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy,” Onanuga stated.
According to him, Mohammed has held several strategic positions, including Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company.
“He also chaired the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries and NNPC Retail,” he said.
Onanuga further said Mohammed served as Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power Directorate, where he provided leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks.
“These include the Gas Master Plan, the Gas Network Code and key contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act,” he said.
He added that Mohammed played a pivotal role in the delivery of major projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Gas Pipeline and Nigeria LNG train projects.
