BREAKING: NMDPRA, NUPRC Bosses Farouk Ahmed, Komolafe Resign; Tinubu Nominates New Oil Regulators For Senate Approval

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of new chief executives for Nigeria’s two key oil and gas regulatory agencies following the resignation of their current heads.

In a State House press release issued on Wednesday, the President said he had forwarded the names of the nominees to the upper legislative chamber after Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Gbenga Komolafe of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) stepped down from office.

The statement noted that both Ahmed and Komolafe were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the regulators established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

According to the Presidency, Tinubu has requested “expedited confirmation” of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA.

The press release described the two nominees as “seasoned professionals in the oil and gas industry.”

Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the University of Benin, “spent nearly 33 years with the NNPC and its subsidiaries,” the statement said. She “retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream (2023–2024),” and previously served as “Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC from 2019 to 2023.”

Engineer Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe, is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1981. The Presidency disclosed that he “was announced today as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.”

The statement further listed his past roles to include Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, as well as Chairman of the boards of “West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.”

It added that Mohammed also served as “Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power Directorate,” where he provided “strategic leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).”

According to the press release, Engineer Mohammed “played a pivotal role” in the delivery of major projects such as the “Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion,” the “Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline,” and the “Nigeria LNG Train.”

The nominations are now before the Senate for screening and confirmation.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC),” the statement said.

“The requests followed the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA and Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC. Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Buhari to lead the two regulatory agencies created by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

Dangote’s Corruption Allegations

On Tuesday, Africa’s richest man and President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, formally petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged corruption, abuse of office and illicit enrichment by NMDPRA MD, Ahmed.

Dangote, in the petition dated December 16 and addressed to the ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), demanded the arrest, investigation and prosecution of Ahmed, accusing him of living far above his legitimate means as a public servant.

According to the petition, Ahmed allegedly spent over $7 million on the education of his four children in Switzerland, paying school fees upfront for six years.

The businessman noted that the amount could not be justified by the total earnings of a career public servant.

The businessman reportedly named the four children, their schools and the specific sums paid for each of them, urging the anti-graft agency to verify the claims and establish what he described as “clear evidence of corrupt enrichment.”

Dangote further alleged that the NMDPRA chief abused his office by diverting public funds for personal use, accusing him of deploying the regulatory authority as an instrument for embezzlement and the pursuit of private interests to the detriment of Nigerians.

He claimed that the alleged misconduct by Ahmed had triggered recent public outrage and protests by different groups across the country.

The businessman insisted that Ahmed’s lifetime earnings in public service could not lawfully account for such expenditure, alleging that the funds used to educate his children abroad were diverted from public coffers.

He urged the ICPC to act decisively under Section 19 of the ICPC Act, noting that the law prescribes a five-year jail term without an option of fine for such offences.

Dangote said he was prepared to personally appear before investigators to provide documentary and other evidence to substantiate his allegations against the NMDPRA boss.

The allegations were first made public by Dangote during a media interaction at the Dangote Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, on Sunday, where he questioned Ahmed’s source of wealth and accused the regulator of frustrating local refining efforts through the continued issuance of fuel import licences.