Magnus Abe has been nominated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on January 5, 2026, to serve as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Commission's (NUPRC) board chairman. The president also requested the confirmation of twenty additional nominations for the boards of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and NUPRC in two separate letters to the Nigerian Senate. Abe, a former NNPC board member and current chairman of the National Agency of the Great Green Wall, has been named as the head of NUPRC, according to a statement released on Monday by Bayo Onanuga, the president's special assistant on information and strategy.
Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former chairman of the Kaduna Trade Union Congress, and Mr. Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), which was disbanded by the PIA in 2021, are additional candidates for the NUPRC board. Both men will be non-executive commissioners, according to Onanuga.
Muhammad Sabo Lamido, executive commissioner for finance; Edu Inyang, executive commissioner for exploration and acreage; Justin Ezeala, executive commissioner for economic regulation and strategic planning; and Henry Darlington Oki, executive commissioner for development and production, are among the other executive commissioners that President Tinubu nominated to the board. Mahmood Tijani, executive commissioner for health, safety, and the environment; Indabawa Bashari Alka, executive commissioner for corporate services and administration; and Ms. Olayemi Adeboyejo, secretary and legal advisor.
Lamido and Adeboyejo were appointed by former President Buhari in 2022, and Alka was selected by President Tinubu in 2023. President Tinubu recently appointed Inyang, Ezeala, the former managing director of Nigerian Gas Marketing Limited, Mahmood Tijani, Babalola, and Jezhi.
Kobani was a former minister of state for trade under President Jonathan and secretary to the government of Rivers State under Nyesom Wike,” Onanuga said.
Oluwole Adama is the executive director of midstream and downstream gas infrastructure; Francis Ogaree is the executive director of hydrocarbons; Dr. Mustapha Lamorde is the executive director of corporate services and administration; and Abiodun Adeniji is the nominee for the role of executive director of finance. Lamorde and Adeniji were appointed by the late President Buhari in 2021, Ogaree in 2022, and Adama by President Tinubu in 2024.
Mr. Yahaya Nasamu Yinusa, executive director of distribution systems; Adeyemi Murtala Aminu, executive director of corporate services; Ms. Modie Ogechukwu, executive director of economic regulation and strategic planning; and Barrister Olawale Dawodu, board secretary and legal advisor, are additional members of the NMDPRA board, as suggested by President Tinubu. Dawodu is a prominent member of the sector who previously held the position of Financial Reporting Manager at Exxon's Nigerian operations.
President Tinubu has encouraged the Senate to confirm the nominations as soon as possible, he continued.
According to Onanuga, the president's requests come after the two regulatory agencies' chief executive officers were recently appointed. The Senate confirmed Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA and Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as CEO of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
He pointed out that Tinubu has also tasked all nominations and appointees with carrying out their professional obligations as oil and gas industry regulators.
