President Bola Tinubu has forwarded letters to the Senate seeking confirmation of 21 nominees for the boards of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The disclosure was made on Tuesday by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
In one of the letters, Tinubu nominated former senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the NUPRC board. Abe, who represented Rivers South-East in the Senate for two terms, previously served on the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and currently chairs the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
Also nominated as non-executive commissioners for the NUPRC board are Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Mr Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
The President further proposed a list of executive commissioners, including Muhammed Sabo Lamido (Finance), Edu Inyang (Exploration and Acreage), Justin Ezeala (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), Henry Darlington Oki (Development and Production), Indabawa Bashari Alka (Corporate Services and Administration), and Mahmood Tijani (Health, Safety and Environment).
Ms Olayemi Adeboyejo was also nominated to serve as Secretary and Legal Adviser to the commission.
According to the Presidency, some of the nominees, including Lamido and Adeboyejo, were initially appointed under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, while Alka was appointed by President Tinubu in 2023. Others on the list are fresh nominees by the current administration.
The nominations are subject to confirmation by the Senate.
