President Bola Tinubu has moved swiftly to appoint new leadership for Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory agencies following the resignation of Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The development came shortly after President Tinubu met with Ahmed at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, amid escalating allegations by industrialist and Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote. Ahmed arrived at the Villa at about 5.30pm and exited less than 30 minutes later, declining to speak with journalists or comment on the allegations and the outcome of the meeting.
Subsequently, the President forwarded separate letters to the Senate requesting confirmation of two nominees to head the key petroleum regulators. Tinubu nominated Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC and Saidu Mohammed as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA, urging the upper chamber to expedite consideration of the appointments.
Farouk Ahmed and Komolafe were appointed in 2021 by the late President Muhammadu Buhari to lead the twin regulators established under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Their resignations, announced without official reasons, have sparked debate within the energy sector, particularly as the exits coincided with an intense public dispute between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the NMDPRA.
The two nominees are seasoned professionals with extensive experience across Nigeria’s oil and gas value chain. Eyesan, an Economics graduate of the University of Benin (UNIBEN), spent nearly 33 years with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and its subsidiaries. She retired in 2024 after serving as Executive Vice President, Upstream, from 2023 to 2024, and previously held the role of Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, between 2019 and 2023. Her career spans upstream operations, strategic planning and policy coordination within the national oil company.
Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, is a Chemical Engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Class of 1981. He was announced earlier this week as an independent Non-Executive Director at Seplat Energy.
In recent days, Ahmed and Dangote have been locked in a heated public confrontation over Nigeria’s downstream petroleum regulation and the future of domestic refining. On Sunday, Dangote accused the NMDPRA of economic sabotage, alleging that regulatory actions were undermining local refining capacity and entrenching Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products.
Speaking during a briefing at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Africa’s richest man claimed that the continued issuance of import licences for petroleum products was frustrating domestic refiners. He further alleged that the NMDPRA was colluding with international traders and oil importers to the detriment of local operators, an accusation the regulator has yet to publicly address.
Dangote also raised personal allegations against Ahmed, claiming the NMDPRA chief was living beyond his legitimate means. He alleged that four of Ahmed’s children attend secondary schools in Switzerland at costs running into millions of dollars, arguing that such expenditure raised serious questions about conflicts of interest and the integrity of regulatory oversight in the downstream sector.
On Monday, Dangote escalated the claims, accusing Ahmed of corruption and misappropriation of public funds. He provided estimates of the costs allegedly incurred on the education and upkeep of Ahmed’s children abroad, claiming that about $5 million was spent on secondary education over six years, with an additional $2 million on tertiary education, including an alleged $210,000 for a 2025 Harvard MBA programme for one of the children.
The controversy deepened on Tuesday when Dangote, through his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja (SAN), submitted a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), calling for Ahmed’s arrest, investigation and prosecution. The petition, addressed to ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu, alleged that Ahmed “spent without evidence of lawful means of income amounting to over $7 million for the education of his four children” in Switzerland. It reportedly included the names of the children, the schools attended and specific figures for verification.
Meanwhile, legal luminary and Senior Partner at Olisa Agbakoba Legal (OAL), Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), warned that the standoff between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the NMDPRA goes beyond a commercial dispute and strikes at the heart of Nigeria’s governance over its hydrocarbon resources.
NMDPRA Dispute Triggers National Debate on Oil Governance
In a statement issued through OAL’s Energy and Natural Resource Practice Group, jointly signed by Agbakoba and Partner and Head of Government Affairs at OAL, Collins Okeke, the firm described the situation as a national paradox.
“The paradox is striking: Nigeria now has a $20 billion refinery, one of the world’s largest, yet we continue importing petroleum products. A private investor has built the refining capacity our nation desperately needs, but faces systematic undermining from the very regulatory authority whose mandate is to support such investments. When government policy actively frustrates transformative local investment, we must question whether our economic strategy serves national interest or perpetuates dependency,” the statement said.
Agbakoba explained that the dispute reflects a broader debate between two models of petroleum governance. He noted that Nigeria operates under what he described as “Contract Oil,” where petroleum is treated merely as a commodity for export and value addition is externalised, resulting in continued import dependence. In contrast, he pointed to Saudi Arabia’s “Development Oil” model, which prioritises local capacity and has enabled the Kingdom to build “over 500 vessels in its maritime fleet, comprehensive downstream capacity including world-class refineries, and absolute control over the petroleum value chain.”
On constitutional grounds, Agbakoba cited Section 44(3), which mandates that oil and gas resources “shall vest in the Government of the Federation and shall be managed” for the welfare and security of Nigerians. He warned that the current situation, where domestic refineries struggle to secure crude feedstock while import licences continue to be issued, represents a “fundamental failure of this constitutional responsibility.”
Energy analysts have expressed confusion over whether the resignations of Ahmed and Komolafe were directly linked to Dangote’s allegations or were merely coincidental. Energy law analyst at the University of Lagos, Prof. Dayo Ayoade, noted that while serious allegations were levelled against the NMDPRA leadership, none were made against the NUPRC or its chief executive.
“There are no allegations against Komolafe but only against NMDPRA. So, it is a very interesting coincidence that both resigned at the same time for no official reason,” Ayoade said. While acknowledging that the Petroleum Industry Act permits regulators to resign at will, he warned that resignation should not replace accountability.
“Very serious allegations have been made against Ahmed. Rather than dealing with those pressing issues, the issue has not been addressed and he has resigned. Is resignation equivalent to a full and fair investigation? I don’t think so. These are matters for law enforcement,” he added.
However, another energy analyst, Dr Ayodele Oni, suggested that the resignations may have been coincidental. “I think the resignations are coincidental with the Dangote accusations and were probably already in the works prior to now, as their replacements have been chosen already and so swiftly. It may well be that the accusations were the last straw, but I believe the replacement of both men was already in the works,” he said.
As the Senate begins consideration of President Tinubu’s nominees, stakeholders say attention will now focus on whether ongoing investigations will be allowed to run their course and whether the new leadership can restore confidence in Nigeria’s petroleum regulatory framework.
Stay informed on Nigeria’s evolving energy sector, policy shifts, and the implications for national development. Read the full analysis, expert insights, and breaking updates on this unfolding NMDPRA-Dangote dispute exclusively. Visit LouisaOlaniyi.com.ng for credible, in-depth Nigerian business and policy journalism.
