The Nigerian oil sector was plunged into a state of uncertainty yesterday when the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority resigned, along with the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, following a rising controversy occasioned by allegations made by the Dangote Group President, Aliko Dangote.
The Presidency confirmed the exit of both regulators, which has largely been attributed to the disagreement arising from the dispute between the Dangote refinery and the NMDPRA regarding importation, pricing, and regulation of the downstream oil industry.
The development came days after Dangote accused Ahmed of economic sabotage and submitted a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, calling for an investigation into what he described as unexplained personal wealth. Among the allegations was a claim that the regulator spent about 5 million dollars on the secondary education of his four children in Switzerland.
Dangote had publicly questioned Ahmed’s source of wealth during a media appearance on Sunday, before formalising the allegations in a letter to the ICPC on Tuesday. According to sources, Ahmed was summoned to the President’s Villa after which he subsequently announced that he had thrown in the towel. The Presidency, despite not involving Komolafe in the crisis, chose to make changes in the two regulatory bodies at the same time.
Confirming the resignation, the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayi Onanuga, released a statement that President Bola Tinubu had submitted the proposed names for the confirmed resignation holders to the Senate.
In the words of Onanuga, the President does not forget to request the Senate to hasten the confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Engr. Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
He pointed out that both of these departing officials were nominated in 2021 by the then-President Muhammadu Buhari in accordance with the Petroleum Industry Act.
According to Onanuga, the nominees are all experienced players within the oil and gas sector. Eyesan graduated from the University of Benin with a degree in Economics and spent close to 33 years within the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its subsidiaries before her retirement as the Executive Vice President of Upstream in 2024. She had previously been the Group General Manager of Corporate Planning and Strategy between 2019 and 2023. Engr Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, who hails from Gombe State and was born in 1957, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 with a degree in Chemical Engineering. His other appointment that was announced on Wednesday includes that of an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy. This is following his other experiences as the Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, and as a board chair at the West African Gas Pipeline Company, subsidiaries of the Nigerian LNG, and the NNPC Retail.
