President Bola Tinubu has nominated former lawmaker, Senator Magnus Abe, alongside other industry professionals, for appointment into the boards of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, subject to Senate confirmation.
The nominations were contained in two separate letters addressed to the Senate and made public in a State House press release issued on Monday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
According to the release, Abe was nominated as chairman of the NUPRC board. He represented Rivers South East in the Senate for two terms and previously served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. He currently chairs the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
Also nominated as non executive commissioners for the NUPRC board are Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna State, and Mr Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources.
The President further nominated several executive commissioners to the NUPRC board.
They include Muhammed Sabo Lamido for finance, Edu Inyang for exploration and acreage, Justin Ezeala for economic regulation and strategic planning, and Henry Darlington Oki for development and production.
Others are Indabawa Bashari Alka for corporate services and administration, Mahmood Tijani for health, safety and environment, while Ms Olayemi Adeboyejo was nominated as secretary and legal adviser.
The statement noted that Lamido and Adeboyejo were initially appointed in 2022, while Alka was appointed in 2023. Inyang, Ezeala, Tijani, Babalola and Jezhi are fresh nominees of the Tinubu administration.
In a separate letter, Tinubu nominated Mr Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji as chairman of the NMDPRA board. Adeniji is a lawyer with over three decades of experience in energy and natural resources and currently serves as managing partner at ENR Advisory.
Other nominees for the NMDPRA board include Chief Kenneth Kobani and Mrs Asabe Ahmed as non executive members, as well as Abiodun Adeniji, Francis Ogaree, Oluwole Adama and Dr Mustapha Lamorde as executive directors in various capacities.
The President urged the Senate to approve the nominees without delay, stressing the need for professionalism in regulating the oil and gas sector.
The request followed the recent confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as CEO of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of the NMDPRA.
