President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory agencies following the resignation of their current heads.
The request follows the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to head the two agencies established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
To fill the vacant positions, President Tinubu nominated Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA, urging the Senate to expedite their confirmation to ensure continuity in sector regulation.
Eyesan, an Economics graduate of 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 (2023–2024) and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy from 2019 to 2023.
Engineer Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1981 with a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering. He was also announced on Tuesday as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His career includes stints as Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, as well as chairmanship roles at the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail. He also served as Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power Directorate, contributing to major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and the Petroleum Industry Act.
The nominations were contained in a State House press release signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy.
