SENATE CONFIRMS MOHAMMED, EYESAN AS NMDPRA, NUPRC CEOs
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The Senate has approved Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan to become the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
It also confirmed the appointment of Saidu Mohammed as the CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The confirmations came after the joint committee, led by Senator Abdulrahman Kawu, looked into a report.
The former managing director of the NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, left his job on Wednesday. He resigned due to corruption accusations made by Aliko Dangote, the Chairman of the Dangote Group.
Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, who disclosed this in a statement, also said Gbenga Komolafe had stepped down as the chief executive of the NUPRC.
Consequently, President Bola Tinubu wrote to the lawmakers, asking for the expedited confirmation of Eyesan as CEO of the NUPRC and Mohammed as the NMDPRA chief.
The Presidency says that the two nominees are “seasoned professionals” in the oil and gas industry.
Dangote filed a complaint with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), accusing Ahmed of being corrupt and misusing money.
In the letter sent by his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, Africa’s richest person asked the anti–corruption body to take Ahmed into custody, look into his actions, and bring charges against him.
He said that Ahmed was spending more money than he should, saying that four of his children had gone to secondary school in Switzerland, which cost millions of dollars.
Dangote claimed that around $5 million had been spent on their secondary education and living expenses over six years, and another $2 million on higher education, including a reported $210,000 for a 2025 Harvard MBA program for one of Ahmed’s children.
The businessman listed the names of the children and the schools they attend, asking the ICPC to take legal action against Ahmed according to the country‘s laws.
Part of the petition said, “We have no doubt that, as this is a public matter, the Commission will not ignore it but will act quickly to make sure justice is served and the reputation of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration is protected.”
The ICPC said they had received the petition and promised it would be “duly investigated.”
On Sunday, the industrialist accused the NMDPRA leadership, led by Ahmed, of economic sabotage, saying that some regulatory actions were hurting the country‘s local refining industry.
At a press event at the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, Dangote claimed that the ongoing approval of import licenses for petroleum products was making it harder for local refiners and keeping the country dependent on imports.
He also said the regulator was working with international traders and oil importers, which was not fair to local businesses.
Ahmed, in a short statement, called Dangote’s claims “wild and false.”
He continued, “Even though I know about the wild and false accusations against me and my family and the chaos they’ve caused, as a regulator in a sensitive industry, I have decided not to respond publicly in a confrontational way.”
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