President Muhammadu Buhari has written to the Senate seeking the confirmation of his nominees as board members of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Upstream Regulatory Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The President’s request is coming at the same time he has also written to the Senate seeking for an amendment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand the membership of the board of directors and to address the issue of geographical balance in its membership among other changes.
The requests were contained in 3 confirmation letters from the president to the upper legislative chamber, which were read by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, during plenary session on Tuesday.
President Buhari, in a letter dated September 16, 2021, asked the Senate to confirm the Chairman, Chief Executive and Executive Directors for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in accordance with the provision of Section 34(3) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
The nominees for the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Board include Idaere Gogo Ogan (Chairman); Engr. Sarki Auwalu (Chief Executive); Abiodun A. Adeniji (Executive Director, Finance and Accounts); and Ogbugo Ukoha (Executive Director, Distributions Systems, Storage and Retail Infrastructure).
Also in another letter dated September 16, 2021, the President requested the Senate to confirm the appointment of 4 nominees as Chairman, Chief Executive and Executive Commissioners to the Board of the Upstream Regulatory Commission, in accordance with the provision of Section 11(3) of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.
The nominees include Isa Ibrahim Modibo (Chairman); Engr. Gbenga Komolafe (Chief Executive); Hassan Gambo (Executive Commissioner, Finance and Accounts); and Ms Rose Ndong (Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage Management).
The President noted that the requests for the confirmation of the board’s membership were made in order to fast track the process for the establishment of the Commission.
The President in the third letter dated September 17, 2021, is asking the Senate to confirm the appointment of his nominees as Secretary and Board members of the EFCC in accordance with the provision of section 2(1) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (Establishment) Act, 2004.
Those to be confirmed include George Abbah Ekpungu, Secretary (Cross River); Luqman Muhammed (Edo); Anumba Adaeze (Enugu); Alhaji Kola Raheem Adesina (Kwara); and Alhaji Yahaya Muhammad (Yobe).
What you should know
- President Buhari had on August 16, 2021, signed the PIA into law, after it was passed by the 2 chambers of the National Assembly in July and on August 18, 2021, approved implementation committee headed by the Minister of state on petroleum, Chief Timipre Sylva, to immediately commence implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act in 12 months.
- The Federal Government had recently made some key appointments into the EFCC as part of its efforts to reposition the anti-corruption to achieve better results.
- President Muhammadu Buhari had in February 2021, asked the Senate to confirm Abdulrasheed Bawa as substantive Chairman of the EFCC