President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated new chief executives for Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory agencies following the resignation of their current heads, Engineers Farouk Ahmed and Gbenga Komolafe.
Ahmed, who headed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), stepped down from their positions after serving since 2021. Both officials were appointed by former President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the two regulators established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Farouk Ahmed has been in the eye of the storm lately folllowing petition by the Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, to the ICPC alleging that the NMDPRA boss paid $5 million for his children’s school fees in Switzerland, an amount far above his legitimate income as a public servant.
A statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, said President Tinubu had written to the Senate, seeking expedited confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA.
Eyesan is an experienced oil and gas professional with nearly 33 years at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries. A graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, she retired in 2024 as Executive Vice President, Upstream, and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, from 2019 to 2023.
Engineer Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in 1981 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. He was announced on Tuesday as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His career includes stints as Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, as well as chairmanship roles at the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
He also served as Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power Directorate, where he played a key role in shaping gas policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act.
Mohammed was instrumental in the delivery of major energy infrastructure projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion and the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, as well as Nigeria LNG Train projects.
The Senate is expected to consider the nominations in the coming days.
