Aliko Dangote may have won the fight with the boss of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engineer Farouk Ahmed.
Ahmed threw in the towel on Wednesday after meeting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Tinubu has also forwarded the names of two nominees to the Senate for confirmation as chief executive officers of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
In a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President said the nominations followed the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed, former Chief Executive of the NMDPRA, and Gbenga Komolafe, former Chief Executive of the NUPRC.
Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari after the creation of the agencies under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
President Tinubu, according to the statement, has requested the Senate to expedite the confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA.
Onanuga noted that the nominees are seasoned professionals with decades of experience in the oil and gas industry.
Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream, in 2024 and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy between 2019 and 2023.
Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He was recently announced as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
His professional career includes serving as Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, as well as chairman of the boards of the West African Gas Pipeline Company, Nigeria LNG subsidiaries, and NNPC Retail.
Mohammed also served as Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Gas and Power Directorate, where he provided strategic leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, Gas Network Code, and contributions to the Petroleum Industry Act.
He played key roles in landmark projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion, the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, and Nigeria LNG Train projects.
Ahmed’s resignation is sequel to his meeting with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Wednesday evening.
The meeting came amid allegations of financial impropriety made by industrialist and President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, against the NMDPRA boss.
Dangote and Ahmed have been at odds for a while now over downstream petroleum regulation and the future of domestic refining in Nigeria.
At a press conference on Sunday at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Dangote accused the NMDPRA, under Mr Ahmed’s leadership, of economic sabotage, alleging that regulatory actions were undermining local refining capacity.
He claimed that the continued issuance of import licences for petroleum products was frustrating domestic refiners and deepening Nigeria’s reliance on fuel imports.
Mr Dangote also made personal allegations against the NMDPRA chief, claiming that Mr Ahmed was living beyond his legitimate means.
He alleged that four of Mr Ahmed’s children attend secondary schools in Switzerland at costs running into several millions of dollars, arguing that such expenditure raised concerns about conflicts of interest and the integrity of regulatory oversight in the downstream petroleum sector.
