President Bola Tinubu has nominated former Senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), seeking Senate confirmation for him and 20 other nominees to serve on the boards of Nigeria’s key petroleum regulatory agencies. In separate letters sent to the Senate on Monday, Tinubu requested expedited approval for board members of the NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). Abe, who served two terms representing Rivers South-East in the Senate and previously sat on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation board, will lead the NUPRC alongside non-executive commissioners including Paul Jezhi and Sunday Babalola, while seven executive commissioner slots cover finance, exploration, economic regulation, development and corporate services.
For the NMDPRA board, Tinubu nominated Adegbite Adeniji as chairman, a lawyer with extensive energy sector experience, and other members including Kenneth Kobani and Asabe Ahmed as non-executive members. Additional executive director roles span finance, hydrocarbon, midstream and corporate services. The presidential requests follow the Senate’s recent confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA, institutions established by the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021. Tinubu has charged all appointees and nominees to perform their duties professionally as regulators of the oil and gas sector. The Senate is expected to begin screenings before formal confirmation votes in the coming weeks.