President Bola Tinubu has taken steps to fill leadership gaps at Nigeria’s key petroleum regulatory agencies following the exit of Farouk Ahmed and Gbenga Komolafe.
Ahmed has resigned as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), while Komolafe has also stepped down from his position as head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
In separate communications to the Senate, the President requested the confirmation of new nominees to lead the two agencies. The request was made public on Wednesday in a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
Tinubu nominated Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as the new Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA, urging lawmakers to fast-track the confirmation process.
Both outgoing officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari after the Petroleum Industry Act came into force.
Eyesan, an economist and industry expert, spent close to 33 years at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and its subsidiaries. She retired in 2024 as Executive Vice President, Upstream, and previously oversaw corporate planning and strategy at the national oil company.
Mohammed is a chemical engineer with extensive experience across Nigeria’s energy sector. He previously served as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company and has held board positions in several oil and gas firms. He was recently appointed an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
Presidency sources described the nominees as professionals with the competence and experience required to strengthen regulatory oversight in the petroleum industry.
Ahmed’s resignation comes weeks after a highly publicised dispute with industrialist Aliko Dangote, which dominated public discourse in December 2025.
The clash followed allegations by Dangote that Ahmed and his family were living beyond their lawful earnings, including claims of large sums spent on foreign education for his children. Dangote petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to investigate the matter.
Ahmed denied the allegations, calling them unfounded, and maintained that he was prepared to address the issue before relevant investigative authorities.
The disagreement has its roots in 2024, when Ahmed criticised the performance of local refineries, including the Dangote Refinery. The situation later drew the intervention of the House of Representatives, which summoned both parties in a bid to prevent disruption within the oil and gas sector.
