THE Senate has confirmed the appointments of Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan and Saidu Mohammed as the Chief Executive Officers of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), respectively.
The confirmations were announced at plenary following the consideration and adoption of a report by the joint committees on Petroleum (Upstream, Downstream and Gas), which screened the nominees.
President Bola Tinubu had forwarded Eyesan and Mohammed names to the Senate on Thursday, December 17, seeking its approval to fill vacancies created by the resignation of the former heads of the two regulators.
The appointments come amid heightened public scrutiny of Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory agencies, particularly following the recent resignation of Farouk Ahmed as NMDPRA CEO.
Ahmed stepped down on December 17, after days of controversy triggered by corruption allegations levelled against him by billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote. Dangote had petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing Ahmed of abuse of office, financial impropriety and violations of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
Among the allegations was a claim that Ahmed spent more than $7 million in public funds on the education of his four children in Switzerland, an expenditure Dangote argued was inconsistent with the income of a career public servant.
The ICPC confirmed receipt of the petition and said it would investigate the claims.
Although the Presidency did not explicitly link Ahmed’s resignation to the allegations, the timing of his exit intensified public debate over the allegations in the petroleum sector.
Similarly, Tinubu announced the resignation of Gbenga Komolafe as CEO of the NUPRC and nominated Eyesan as his replacement.
Both the NUPRC and NMDPRA were created under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to regulate Nigeria’s upstream, midstream and downstream petroleum operations.
Mohammed, who replaces Ahmed at the NMDPRA, is a former Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Gas and Power Directorate at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). He has previously served as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M