Tinubu nominates Magnus Abe, Adegbite Adeniji to Chair NUPRC, NMDPRA Boards

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has formally requested the Senate to confirm 21 nominees for the governing boards of the nation’s two primary petroleum regulators: the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

In two separate letters addressed to the Senate on Monday, President Tinubu nominated Senator Magnus Abe to chair the NUPRC board and Mr. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji to lead the NMDPRA board.

The nominations come on the heels of the Senate’s recent confirmation of the chief executive officers for both agencies; Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan for NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed for NMDPRA.

For the upstream sector regulator, the President nominated Senator Magnus Abe, a seasoned politician and former representative of Rivers South East Senatorial District.

Abe, who previously served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and currently chairs the National Agency of the Great Green Wall, is set to bring his legislative and administrative experience to the commission.

Alongside Abe, the President nominated Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna, and Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former Deputy Director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), as non-executive commissioners.

The list of executive commissioners for the NUPRC includes: Muhammed Sabo Lamido (Finance), Mr. Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage), Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), Henry Darlington Oki (Development and Production), Indabawa Bashari Alka (Corporate Services and Administration), Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety, and Environment) and Ms. Olayemi Adeboyejo (Secretary and Legal Adviser).

The presidency noted that while some nominees like Inyang, Ezeala, and Tijani are new appointees, others such as Lamido and Adeboyejo were originally appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022.

For the midstream and downstream regulator, President Tinubu tapped Mr. Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a distinguished lawyer with over three decades of experience in energy and natural resources, as Chairman.

Adeniji’s resume includes a stint as a Special Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum and a role with the World Bank’s Oil & Gas Policy team, where he advised on Nigerian sector reforms.

Other key nominations for the NMDPRA board include Chief Kenneth Kobani, a former Minister of State for Trade, and Mrs. Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members.

The executive directors proposed for the authority are: Abiodun Adeniji (Finance), Francis Ogaree (Hydrocarbon), Oluwole Adama (Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure), Dr. Mustapha Lamorde (Corporate Services and Administration), Mr. Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Murtala Aminu (Corporate Services), Ms. Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning) and Barrister Olawale Dawodu (Board Secretary and Legal Adviser).

According to the statement signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, President Tinubu has urged the Senate to accord the request expeditious approval.

The President further charged the nominees to discharge their duties with high professional standards, emphasizing their critical role in regulating the oil and gas sectors which remain the lifeblood of the Nigerian economy.