By Ajewole Joshua |ABNews|December 17, 2025
President has forwarded the names of two new nominees to the for confirmation as chief executives of Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory agencies, following the resignation of their current heads.
The request, conveyed to the Senate for expedited consideration, comes after Engineer Farouk Ahmed stepped down as Chief Executive of the (NMDPRA), while Gbenga Komolafe resigned as Chief Executive of the (NUPRC).
Ahmed and Komolafe were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the two agencies established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
To fill the vacancies, President Tinubu nominated Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive of the NMDPRA.
According to the State House, both nominees bring decades of experience in the oil and gas sector.
Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the , spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream (2023–2024), and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy between 2019 and 2023.
Engineer Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from in 1981. He was also announced on Tuesday as an independent non-executive director at .
His career spans several top positions, including Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company. He has also chaired the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
Engineer Mohammed previously served as Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership for major national gas initiatives and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and key contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act.
He played critical roles in the delivery of landmark projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train projects.
The Senate is expected to consider the nominations in the coming days.
