President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated twenty-one individuals for the governing boards of Nigeria’s two primary petroleum regulatory agencies, seeking to fill critical leadership positions in the nation’s vital energy sector.
In two separate letters to the Senate, the President requested the expeditious confirmation of the nominees for the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
A notable nomination is that of Chief Kenneth Kobani as a non-executive member of the NMDPRA board. Kobani, a former Minister of State for Trade and Investment, served as Secretary to the Rivers State Government under the administration of former Governor Nyesom Wike, bringing significant political and administrative experience to the role.
For the NUPRC, President Tinubu nominated Senator Magnus Abe, a two-term former Senator representing Rivers South-East and former NNPC board member, as Board Chairman. He is joined by other nominees including former Trade Union Congress chairman, Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, and former DPR deputy director, Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola, as non-executive commissioners.
The NMDPRA board is set to be chaired by Mr. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer and energy expert with over three decades of experience, who previously advised the Minister of State for Petroleum and contributed to seminal sector reforms.
Other key appointments include the nomination of several Executive Commissioners for the NUPRC, covering finance, exploration, economic regulation, and production, and Executive Directors for the NMDPRA, overseeing finance, infrastructure, corporate services, and distribution.
These board nominations follow the recent Senate confirmation of the chief executive officers for both agencies: Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.
President Tinubu has charged all appointees and nominees to discharge their duties with the highest level of professionalism and dedication as regulators of the oil and gas sector, underscoring the administration’s commitment to effective governance and strategic oversight in this critical area of the economy.
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