ABUJA, Jan. 6, 2026 (Naija247news) – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has nominated former Rivers South-East Senator Magnus Abe as chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), forwarding his name alongside 20 others to the Senate for confirmation as board members of Nigeria’s two key petroleum regulatory agencies.
In separate letters transmitted to the Senate on Monday, the President requested expedited legislative approval for nominees to the boards of the NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Abe, who served two terms in the Senate representing Rivers South-East, is a former board member of the defunct Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and currently chairs the National Agency of the Great Green Wall. His nomination places him at the helm of the upstream regulator’s board at a critical time for Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
NUPRC board nominations
According to a statement by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Abe will serve alongside non-executive commissioners Paul Jezhi, a former chairman of the Trade Union Congress in Kaduna State, and Sunday Babalola, a former deputy director of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
President Tinubu also nominated seven executive commissioners to the NUPRC board:
- Muhammed Lamido – Executive Commissioner, Finance
- Edu Inyang – Exploration and Acreage
- Justin Ezeala – Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning
- Henry Oki – Development and Production
- Indabawa Alka – Corporate Services and Administration
- Mahmood Tijani – Health, Safety and Environment
- Olayemi Adeboyejo – Secretary and Legal Adviser
Lamido and Adeboyejo were first appointed in 2022 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, while Alka was appointed by Tinubu in 2023. Inyang, Ezeala, Tijani, Babalola and Jezhi are new nominees.
NMDPRA board nominees
For the NMDPRA, President Tinubu nominated Adegbite Adeniji, a lawyer with more than 30 years’ experience in energy and natural resources law, as board chairman. Adeniji previously served as Special Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum on upstream and gas matters and was part of the World Bank Oil & Gas Policy team that advised Nigeria on petroleum sector reforms, including the Strategic Gas Plan. He is currently Managing Partner at ENR Advisory.
Other non-executive nominees to the NMDPRA board include Kenneth Kobani, a former Minister of State for Trade and ex-Secretary to the Rivers State Government, and Asabe Ahmed.
Executive nominees to the NMDPRA board are:
- Abiodun Adeniji – Executive Director, Finance
- Francis Ogaree – Hydrocarbon Processing
- Oluwole Adama – Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure
- Dr Mustapha Lamorde – Corporate Services and Administration
Adama was appointed in 2024, while Adeniji and Lamorde were first appointed in 2021 and Ogaree in 2022 under the Buhari administration.
Additional nominees include Yahaya Yinusa (Distribution Systems), Adeyemi Aminu (Corporate Services), Modie Ogechukwu (Economic Regulation and Strategic Planning), and Olawale Dawodu as Board Secretary and Legal Adviser. Dawodu is an industry veteran who previously served as Financial Reporting Manager at ExxonMobil’s Nigerian subsidiaries.
Sector reforms under PIA
The nominations come shortly after the Senate confirmed Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of the NMDPRA. Both regulators were established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which dismantled the DPR and overhauled Nigeria’s oil and gas governance framework.
President Tinubu urged all nominees to discharge their responsibilities with professionalism, stressing the strategic importance of effective regulation to Nigeria’s petroleum industry and broader economic stability.
The Senate is expected to commence screening of the nominees in the coming weeks ahead of confirmation votes.
Babatunde Akinsola ✔
Babatunde Akinsola is aNaija247news' Southwest editor. He's based in Lagos and writes on the Yoruba Nation political issues, news and investigative reports
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