*Nominates Eyesan, Mohammed as
successors
By Obaike Odihue
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 President’s 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).
To fill these positions, President Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting expedited confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.
Ahmed’s resignation was announced shortly after he met with President Bola Tinubu in his office at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
It is believed that Tinubu at the meeting asked Ahmed to turn in his letter of resignation against the backdrop of escalating allegations by industrialist Aliko Dangote against the petroleum regulator.
Ahmed and Dangote, Africa’s richest man and chairman of Dangote Cement and Dangote Industries Limited, have in recent days been locked in a public dispute over Nigeria’s downstream petroleum regulation and the future of domestic refining.
On Sunday, Dangote accused the NMDPRA leadership, headed by Mr Ahmed, of economic sabotage, alleging that regulatory actions were undermining local refining capacity in Nigeria.
Speaking at a press conference at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, he claimed that the continued issuance of import licences for petroleum products was frustrating domestic refiners and entrenching dependence on imports.
Dangote further alleged that the NMDPRA was colluding with international traders and oil importers to the detriment of local operators, a charge the regulator has yet to publicly address.
The businessman also raised personal allegations against the NMDPRA chief, claiming that Mr Ahmed was living beyond his legitimate means.
He alleged that four of Mr Ahmed’s children attend secondary schools in Switzerland at costs running into several millions of dollars, arguing that such expenditure raised questions about potential conflicts of interest and the integrity of regulatory oversight in the downstream petroleum sector.
On Monday, Mr Dangote escalated the claims, accusing Mr Ahmed of corruption and misappropriation of public funds, and providing estimates of the costs allegedly incurred on his children’s education abroad.
He alleged that about $5 million was spent on secondary education and upkeep over six years, with an additional $2 million on tertiary education, including an alleged $210,000 for a 2025 Harvard MBA programme for one of Mr Ahmed’s children.
The controversy deepened on Tuesday when Dangote, through his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), submitted a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), calling for Mr Ahmed’s arrest, investigation and prosecution.
The petition, addressed to ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu, alleged that Mr Ahmed “spent without evidence of lawful means of income amounting to over $7 million for the education of his four children” in Switzerland, and reportedly included the names of the children, the schools attended and specific figures for verification.
The two nominees to head the NMRDPRA and the NUPRC are seasoned professionals in the oil and gas industry, Onanuga said in the statement.
Eyesan, a graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the NNPC and its subsidiaries. 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 Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. He was announced today as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His prior roles include Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and Nigerian Gas Company, as well as Chair of the boards of West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
He 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).
Engineer Mohammed played a pivotal role in delivering key projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train.
