Engineer Farouk Ahmed has resigned as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), deepening a major shake-up in Nigeria’s petroleum sector that follows public allegations by billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote against the country’s downstream regulator.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve new chief executives for both the NMDPRA and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), following the exit of Mr. Ahmed and Gbenga Komolafe, who headed the upstream regulator.
In a State House press release dated December 17, 2025, the presidency said the president “has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of two new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).”
According to the statement, “the requests followed the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA and Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC,” both of whom were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari as pioneer heads of the two regulators created under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Mr. Ahmed’s resignation comes days after Dangote, Africa’s richest man and owner of the 650,000-barrel-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery, accused senior officials in the downstream regulator of corruption, abuse of office and deliberate attempts to frustrate local refining.
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Mr. Dangote alleged that regulatory actions had favoured fuel importers over domestic producers and amounted to economic sabotage at a time when Nigeria is seeking to end decades of dependence on imported petroleum products.
Mr. Dangote also submitted a formal petition to Nigeria’s anti-corruption authorities, calling for an investigation into the personal finances and conduct of the NMDPRA leadership, particularly Mr. Ahmed’s, whose children’s education in Switzerland became a key flashing point.
The regulator denied the allegations, describing them as unfounded, and maintained that all decisions were taken in line with the law and technical standards. However, the dispute escalated rapidly into a national controversy, drawing in lawmakers and senior officials.
The Dangote refinery, located in the Lekki Free Zone near Lagos, is a cornerstone of Nigeria’s energy strategy. Built at an estimated cost of about US$19 billion, the facility is the largest single-train refinery in the world and has the capacity to meet domestic demand for petrol, diesel and aviation fuel, with surplus products for export across West Africa.
For decades, Nigeria despite being one of Africa’s largest crude oil producers, has imported most of its refined fuel because its state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna operated far below capacity or were shut.
The resulting import dependence strained foreign exchange reserves, weakened the naira and entrenched a petrol subsidy regime that cost trillions of naira each year.
Since beginning phased operations in 2024, the Dangote refinery has supplied diesel and aviation fuel to the local market and moved towards large-scale petrol production.
Dangote Industries has argued that full benefits — including reduced imports and foreign exchange savings — have been delayed by regulatory bottlenecks, including the issuance of import licences and disputes over pricing and quality standards.
The Petroleum Industry Act, enacted in 2021 after years of debate, was designed to resolve such tensions by establishing clear, independent regulators and market-based pricing.
Under the law, the NMDPRA oversees refining, fuel distribution, pricing frameworks and midstream infrastructure, while the NUPRC regulates crude oil production and upstream investments.
Following Mr. Ahmed’s resignation, President Tinubu moved quickly to nominate replacements, requesting “expedited confirmation” by the Senate.
To head the NMDPRA, he nominated Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed, while Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan was nominated as chief executive of the NUPRC.
In the press release, the presidency described both nominees as “seasoned professionals in the oil and gas industry.” Mr. Eyesan, a graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, “spent nearly 33 years with the NNPC and its subsidiaries,” retiring as executive vice-president for upstream in 2024. She also previously served as group general manager for corporate planning and strategy.
Mr. Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe State, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. The presidency said he “served as Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Gas & Power Directorate,” where he provided strategic leadership for major gas projects and policy frameworks, including the Gas Masterplan, the Gas Network Code and contributions to the PIA.
According to the statement, Mr. Mohammed “played a pivotal role in delivering key projects such as the Escravos–Lagos Pipeline Expansion [and] the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline,” and chaired several boards across Nigeria’s gas and LNG value chain. He was also announced on the day of his nomination as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.
The Senate is expected to begin consideration of the nominations in the coming days, as the government seeks to restore confidence in petroleum regulation and steady a sector that remains central to Nigeria’s economy, export earnings and fiscal outlook, even as it undergoes its most significant restructuring in decades.
