President Bola Tinubu nominates Magnus Abe as chairman of the NUPRC. Learn about this key appointment in Nigeria’s petroleum industry.
President Bola Amed Tinubu has nominated Magnus Abe as chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. Abe is a former Rivers South-East Senator. He is seeking the Senate’s confirmation for him. There are also 20 other nominees to serve on the boards of the two key petroleum regulatory agencies.
In a separate letter sent to the Senate on Monday, President Bola Tinubu requested quick approval. This appeal was for board members of the NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
Abe represented Rivers South-East in the Senate for two terms. He earlier served as a board member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He now chairs the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has made a statement. According to him, Abe will lead the NUPRC board. He will do so alongside other non-executive commissioners. These include Paul Jezhi, a former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna. Also included is Sunday Babalola, a former deputy director of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources.
The President nominated seven executive commissioners to the NUPRC board. Muhammed Lamido was nominated as executive commissioner for finance. Edu Inyang was nominated for exploration and acreage. Justin Ezeala was nominated for economic regulation and strategic planning. Henry Oki was nominated for development and production.
Indabawa Alka is responsible for corporate services and administration. Mahmood Tijani handles health, safety, and environment. Olayemi Adeboyejo serves as secretary and legal adviser.
Lamido and Adeboyejo were initially appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2022, while Tinubu appointed Alka in 2023. Inyang and Ezeala are new appointees. Ezeala is a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited. Tijani, Babalola, and Jezhi are also new appointees.
For the NMDPRA board, President Tinubu nominated Adegbite Adeniji as chairman. He is a lawyer with over 30 years of experience in energy and natural resources.
Adeniji formerly served as special technical adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas until 2018. He was a member of the World Bank’s Oil and Gas Policy team. This team advised the Nigerian government on petroleum sector reform. Their work included the development of the Strategic Gas Plan for Nigeria. He now serves as managing partner at ENR Advisory.
The President nominated Kenneth Kobani as a non-executive member of the NMDPRA board. He is a former minister of state for trade under President Goodluck Jonathan. He was also the ex-secretary to the Rivers State Government under Nyesom Wike. Asabe Ahmed was also nominated as a non-executive member of the NMDPRA board.
Other NMDPRA board nominees include Abiodun Adeniji as executive director of finance. Francis Ogaree is nominated for hydrocarbon. Oluwole Adama will handle midstream and downstream gas infrastructure. Dr Mustapha Lamorde is nominated for corporate services and administration.
President Tinubu appointed Adama in 2024, while late President Buhari appointed Lamorde and Adeniji in 2021 and Ogaree in 2022. Additional NMDPRA board members proposed by the President include Yahaya Yinusa as executive director for distribution systems. Adeyemi Aminu was proposed for corporate services. Modie Ogechukwu is for economic regulation and strategic planning. Olawale Dawodu will serve as board secretary and legal adviser.
Dawodu, an industry veteran, previously served as Financial Reporting Manager at Exxon’s Nigerian subsidiaries. The presidential requests follow the recent confirmation by the Senate of the chief executive officers for the two regulatory agencies.
Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan was confirmed as CEO of the NUPRC, while Saidu Aliyu Mohammed was approved as CEO of the NMDPRA. The Petroleum Industry Act of 2021 established both regulatory bodies. It abolished the Department of Petroleum Resources. It also restructured Nigeria’s petroleum sector governance framework.
President Bola Tinubu has charged all the appointees and nominees to discharge their duties and responsibilities professionally. They are tasked with regulating the oil and gas sectors. He emphasised the strategic importance of effective oversight in the nation’s petroleum industry.
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