By Patrick Idowu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to confirm 21 nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
In a letter to the Senate, the President nominated former senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the NUPRC board, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. Abe represented Rivers South East Senatorial District for two terms and previously served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He currently chairs the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
Other nominees to the NUPRC board include Paul Yaro Jezhi and Sunday Adebayo Babalola as non-executive commissioners. Seven executive commissioners were also nominated, including Muhammed Sabo Lamido (Finance) and Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage), among others.
In a separate letter, Tinubu nominated Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji as chairman of the NMDPRA board. Adeniji is an energy lawyer with over 30 years’ experience and a former adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum.
The President also named non-executive and executive members for the NMDPRA board and urged the Senate to expedite action on the nominations.
The request follows the Senate’s recent confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of the NMDPRA.
