Tinubu Nominates New Petroleum Regulators as NMDPRA, NUPRC Chiefs Resign Amid Public Controversy

Tinubu Nominates New Petroleum Regulators as NMDPRA, NUPRC Chiefs Resign Amid Public Controversy

Abiola Adigun | Albarka 89.9 FM| Ilorin|Drcember 17 2025

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 the heads of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).

In a letter read at plenary, the President requested expedited consideration of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA.

The nominations followed the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the NMDPRA, and Gbenga Komolafe, CEO of the NUPRC. Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the two regulators established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

According to the Presidency, the nominees are seasoned professionals with decades of experience in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and its subsidiaries. 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, born in 1957 in Gombe State, is a Chemical Engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was recently announced as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy. His previous roles include Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and Nigerian Gas Company, as well as board chairmanship positions at the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.

He also served as Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and inputs into the Petroleum Industry Act. Mohammed was involved in landmark projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train projects.

The development comes against the backdrop of a public controversy involving the immediate past NMDPRA chief, Engineer Farouk Ahmed.

In a paid newspaper advertisement published on Tuesday, Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, alleged that Ahmed spent about $5 million on the secondary school education of his four children in Switzerland over a six-year period. Dangote had earlier described the alleged expenditure as “economic sabotage and corruption.”

In the advert, Dangote listed the children as Faisal Farouk, Farouk Jr., Ashraf Farouk, and Farhana, and named the schools they allegedly attended to include Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institut Le Rosey, and La Garenne International School.

He estimated the annual cost of tuition, airfare, and upkeep at about $200,000 per child, amounting to $800,000 per year for the four children. He further claimed that living expenses and air tickets over six years totalled $1.2 million per child, bringing the combined cost to about $4.8 million, which he rounded up to $5 million.

Dangote also alleged additional tertiary education expenses, claiming that tuition, upkeep, and related costs averaged $125,000 per year over four years per child, amounting to $2 million for all four. He further stated that one of the children, Faisal, completed an MBA at Harvard University in 2025 at an estimated cost of $210,000.

According to Dangote, Nigerians “deserve to know the source of the money paid by a public officer,” particularly at a time when many families struggle to afford basic education.

The Presidency’s statement announcing the nominations focused solely on leadership transition and continuity in the petroleum regulatory sector, as the Senate prepares to screen and confirm the new nominees.