Tinubu seeks Senate’s confirmation of nominees for Boards of NMDPRA, NUPRC

*President Bola Ahmed Tinubu urges the Nigerian Senate to approve the nominees expeditiously, stating the requests followed the recent appointment of Chief Executive Officers for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has dispatched two letters to the Nigerian Senate, seeking confirmation of 21 new nominees for the Boards of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

Tinubu, in the first letter, nominated Senator Magnus Abe to serve as the Chairman of the Board of NUPRC.

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Abe, who represented Rivers South East in the Senate for two terms, is a former NNPC Board member and current Chairman of the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.

Other nominees for the NUPRC board are Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former Trade Union Congress (TUC) Chairman in Kaduna, and Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former Deputy Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), which was abolished by the PIA in 2021.

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Tinubu Seeks Senate’s Confirmation Of Nominees For Boards Of NMDPRA, NUPRC

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Mr. Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, noted this Monday, January 5, 2026, said both men would serve as non-Executive Commissioners.

In a related development, President Tinubu also nominated Executive Commissioners to the Board.

These are: Muhammed Sabo Lamido, Executive Commissioner for Finance; Mr. Edu Inyang, Executive Commissioner for Exploration and Acreage; Justin Ezeala, executive commissioner for economic regulation and strategic planning; and Henry Darlington Oki, executive commissioner for Development and Production.

Others are Indabawa Bashari Alka, Executive Commissioner for Corporate Services and Administration; Mahmood Tijani, Executive Commissioner for Health, Safety and Environment; and Ms. Olayemi Adeboyejo, as secretary and legal adviser.

It is recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Lamido and Adeboyejo 2022, while President Tinubu appointed Alka 2023.

Inyang, Ezeala, the former Managing Director of Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited, Mahmood Tijani, Babalola and Jezhi are new appointees of President Tinubu.

The statement as well noted that in his second letter to the Senate, the President nominated Mr. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer, as the Chairman of the NMDPRA Board.

Adeniji has over 30 years’ experience in energy and natural resources issues.

He was a Special Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on Upstream and Gas until 2018.

He was a member of the Oil & Gas Policy team at the World Bank, which advised the Government of Nigeria on the reform and restructuring of the petroleum sector, including the development of the Strategic Gas Plan for Nigeria.

He is currently the Managing Partner at ENR Advisory.

President Tinubu also nominated Chief Kenneth Kobani and Mrs. Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members.

Kobani was a former minister of state for trade under President Jonathan and secretary to the government of Rivers State, under Nyesom Wike.

Also nominated for confirmation are Abiodun Adeniji, Executive Director of Finance; Francis Ogaree, Executive Director of hydrocarbon; Oluwole Adama, executive director of midstream and Downstream gas infrastructure; and Dr. Mustapha Lamorde, executive director of Corporate Services and Administration.

President Tinubu appointed Adama 2024, while late President Buhari appointed Lamorde and Adeniji 2021 and Ogaree 2022

Other members of the NMDPRA Board, as proposed by President Tinubu, are Mr. Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa, Executive Director, Distribution Systems; Adeyemi Murtala Aminu, Executive Director, Corporate Services; Ms. Modie Ogechukwu, Executive Director, Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning; and Barrister Olawale Dawodu, as board secretary and legal adviser.

The statement described Dawodu as an industry player, and at a time, was the Financial Reporting Manager at Exxon Nigerian subsidiaries.

Onanuga stated President Tinubu urged the Senate to approve the nominees expeditiously.

The requests followed the recent appointment of chief executive officers for the two regulatory agencies.

Recently, the Senate confirmed Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as the CEO of NUPRC, and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA respectively.

The Presidential aide stated Tinubu charged all the appointees and nominees to discharge their duties and responsibilities professionally as regulators of the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy.

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