Tinubu Nominates Eyesan, Mohammed to Head NUPRC, NMDPRA

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to confirm Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as the new chief executives of Nigeria’s key petroleum regulatory agencies, following recent leadership changes in the sector.

The President’s request came after the exit of Gbenga Komolafe as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Engineer Farouk Ahmed as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

In a letter to the Senate, President Tinubu sought expedited consideration of Eyesan’s appointment as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC, alongside Mohammed’s nomination as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA.

Eyesan is a seasoned oil and gas professional with nearly 33 years of experience at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries. She holds a degree in Economics from the University of Benin and retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream, where she served between 2023 and 2024. She previously worked as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC from 2019 to 2023.

Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981. He was also announced on Tuesday as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.

His career spans senior roles across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, including Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company. He has chaired the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries and NNPC Retail.

Mohammed also served as Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Gas and Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks such as the Gas Masterplan, the Gas Network Code and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act. He played key roles in the delivery of projects including the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and the Nigeria LNG Train project.

The Senate is expected to consider the nominations in the coming days.