President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said in a press release that the requests followed the “resignation” of Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA and Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC.
Both officials were appointed in 2021 by the then President Buhari to lead the two regulatory agencies created by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Lately, Ahmed has been embroiled in a mudslinging with billionaire business man Aliko Dangote, who accused him of. corruption.
Onanuga said today that to fill these positions, Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting expedited confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Engineer Sa’idu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.
He described the two nominees as “seasoned professionals” in the oil and gas industry.
Eyesan, a graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the NNPC and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream (2023–2024), and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC from 2019 to 2023.
Engineer Sa’idu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. He was announced today as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His prior roles included Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and Nigerian Gas Company, as well as Chair of the boards of West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
He also served as Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Mohammed played a pivotal role in delivering key projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train.
