President Bola Tinubu has asked the Senate to confirm new chief executives for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission following the resignation of the heads of both agencies.
The request was conveyed in separate letters sent to the Senate on Wednesday, December 17.
Farouk Ahmed resigned as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, while Gbenga Komolafe stepped down as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission. Both officials were appointed in 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari after the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The resignations come amid public allegations by Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote Group, who accused Ahmed of spending about five million dollars on the secondary school education of his children in Switzerland.
