NMDPRA CEO at the centre of Dangote’s corruption allegation resigns

Ahmed has been locked in a dispute with the President of Dangote Group of Companies, Aliko Dangote, over the operation of Dangote Refinery.

The African richest man had on Sunday demanded the prosecution of the now former NMDPRA boss for alleged corruption and economic sabotage.

He has since sent a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and demanded Ahmed’s arrest for “living above his means of income as a public servant and undermining the operation of local refinery.”

The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the President, Bayo Onanuga, confirmed Ahmed and Komolafe’s resignation in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

He also announced the appointment of the new heads for the two agencies.

The statement read: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu 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).

“The requests followed the resignation of Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA and Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC.

“To fill these positions, President Tinubu has written to the Senate, requesting expedited confirmation of Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan as CEO of NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.

The two nominees are seasoned professionals in the oil and gas industry.

“Ms. Eyesan, a graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, spent nearly 33 years with the NNPC and its subsidiaries. She retired as Executive Vice President, Upstream (2023–2024), and previously served as Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy at NNPC from 2019 to 2023.

“Mr. Mohammed, born in 1957 in Gombe, graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 1981 with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. He was announced today as an independent non-executive director at Seplat Energy.”