Engr. Farouk Ahmed, the embattled CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and his counterpart at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, have resigned.
President Bola Tinubu has already asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for the NMDPRA and the NUPRC.
According to a statement from presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga, the President’s requests came after the duo resigned.
Former President Buhari appointed both officials in 2021 to lead the two regulatory agencies established by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
To fill these positions, President Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting that Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan be confirmed as CEO of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of the NMDPRA.
The two nominees are experienced professionals in the oil and gas industry.
Eyesan, an Economics graduate from the University of Benin, has worked for the NNPC and its subsidiaries for nearly 33 years. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream (2023-2024), after serving as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC from 2019 to 2023.
Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in Gombe in 1957, earned a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981. He was named Seplat Energy’s independent non-executive director today.
His previous positions included Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and Nigerian Gas Company, as well as Chairman of the Boards of West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
He also served as Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer of the Gas & Power Directorate, where he oversaw major gas projects and policy frameworks such as the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Engineer Mohammed was instrumental in completing key projects such as the Escravos-Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and the Nigeria LNG train.
