President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the appointment of two new chief executives to lead Nigeria’s oil and gas regulatory bodies.
The request follows the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed, former head of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and Gbenga Komolafe, who led the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Both were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
To replace them, 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. The President urged the Senate to fast-track their confirmation.
Eyesan is an experienced professional in the oil and gas sector. She holds a degree in Economics from the University of Benin and spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and its subsidiaries.
She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream, and previously served as Group General Manager for Corporate Planning and Strategy.
Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University with a degree in Chemical Engineering.
He has held several key positions in the industry, including Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company. He also recently became an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
Mohammed has served on the boards of major energy companies and played an important role in developing Nigeria’s gas policies and projects.
His contributions include work on the Gas Masterplan, the Gas Network Code, the Petroleum Industry Act, and major gas projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion and the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline.
