PRESIDENT TINUBU NOMINATES BOARD MEMBERS FOR NMDPRA, NUPRC, SEEKS SENATE CONFIRMATION

Abuja, January 6, 2026

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

In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, the President disclosed that the nominations were made in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to strengthen governance and regulatory oversight in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector

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In the first letter, President Tinubu nominated Senator Magnus Abe as Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). Senator Abe, a two-term senator who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District, is a former member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) board and currently serves as Chairman of the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.

Other nominees for the NUPRC board as non-executive commissioners are Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Kaduna State, and Mr Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), which was dissolved following the enactment of the PIA in 2021.
President Tinubu also nominated the following executive commissioners to the NUPRC board:
Muhammed Sabo Lamido, Executive Commissioner, Finance
Mr Edu Inyang, Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage
Justin Ezeala, Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning
Henry Darlington Oki, Executive Commissioner, Development and Production
Indabawa Bashari Alka, Executive Commissioner, Corporate Services and Administration
Mahmood Tijani, Executive Commissioner, Health, Safety and Environment
Ms Olayemi Adeboyejo, Secretary and Legal Adviser
Former President Muhammadu Buhari

appointed Lamido and Adeboyejo in 2022, while President Tinubu appointed Alka in 2023. Inyang, Ezeala, Tijani, Babalola and Jezhi are new appointees of the current administration.

In his second letter to the Senate, President Tinubu nominated Mr Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji as Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). Adeniji, a lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in energy and natural resources, previously served as Special Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas matters until 2018. He was also a member of the World Bank Oil and Gas Policy team that advised the Federal Government on petroleum sector reforms, including the development of Nigeria’s Strategic Gas Plan. He is currently the Managing Partner at ENR Advisory.

Also nominated as non-executive members of the NMDPRA board are Chief Kenneth Kobani and Mrs Asabe Ahmed. Kobani is a former Minister of State for Trade under President Goodluck Jonathan and served as Secretary to the Government of Rivers State during the administration of Nyesom Wike.

Other nominees for confirmation include:
Abiodun Adeniji, Executive Director, Finance
Francis Ogaree, Executive Director, Hydrocarbon
Oluwole Adama, Executive Director, Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure
Dr Mustapha Lamorde, Executive Director, Corporate Services and Administration
President Tinubu appointed Adama in 2024, while the late President Buhari appointed Lamorde and Adeniji in 2021 and Ogaree in 2022.
Additional proposed members of the NMDPRA board 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. Dawodu is an industry professional who previously served as Financial Reporting Manager at Exxon’s Nigerian subsidiaries.

The President urged the Senate to expedite action on the confirmation of the nominees to enable the regulatory agencies to function optimally.
The nominations follow the recent appointment and confirmation of chief executive officers for the two agencies. The Senate has confirmed Mr Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA.
President Tinubu has charged all appointees and nominees to discharge their responsibilities with professionalism and integrity in their roles as regulators of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.