President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has forwarded the names of two nominees to the Senate for confirmation as chief executives of Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory agencies, following the resignation of their current heads.
In a letter to the Senate, the President requested the confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The nominations come on the heels of the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed, former CEO of the NMDPRA, and Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, former CEO of the NUPRC. Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to head the regulatory bodies established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The nominations were conveyed in a State House press release on Wednesday December 17, 2025, signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga.
President Tinubu urged the Senate to give the nominations expedited consideration, noting the strategic importance of the two agencies to the effective regulation of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Eyesan is a seasoned industry professional with nearly 33 years of experience at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries. A graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, she retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream, in 2024, having earlier served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, between 2019 and 2023.
Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, a Chemical Engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, was born in 1957 in Gombe State. He was recently announced as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His extensive career includes serving as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, as well as Chairman of the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries and NNPC Retail.
Engineer Mohammed also previously held the position of Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Gas and Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership on major gas projects and policy initiatives, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act.
He played key roles in the delivery of landmark projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline and Nigeria LNG Train projects.
