President Bola Tinubu’s nominees for the leadership of Nigeria’s petroleum regulators on Thursday pledged sweeping reforms aimed at plugging value leakages, restoring discipline across the sector and unlocking fresh investments under the Petroleum Industry Act.

The nominee for the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, and her counterpart at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Saidu Mohammed, made the commitments during their screening by the Senate at Room 117 shortly after plenary.

Both nominees told lawmakers that digitisation, strict contract enforcement, credible data management and accelerated gas development would be central to their leadership, as Nigeria seeks to reposition its oil and gas industry amid declining revenues and global energy transition pressures.

Eyesan, who is slated to head the upstream regulator, said weak data integration and heavy reliance on manual processes were costing the country enormous value in an industry that is rapidly becoming digital worldwide.

“We are still largely manual, while the world is moving at jet speed. Without digitisation and real-time data, you cannot truly understand what you are regulating, and you will continue to lose money,” she said, stressing that effective oversight depends on accurate numbers, asset integrity monitoring and transparent systems.

She told the committee that collaboration between regulators, operators and policymakers would be key to addressing long-standing bottlenecks in the upstream sector. “We must collaborate with stakeholders, identify our pain points, and address them collectively. That is how we move the needle forward,” Eyesan added.

The NUPRC nominee assured senators that she would fully deploy the Petroleum Industry Act as a regulatory tool to attract fresh investments and ensure Nigeria remains competitive in the global energy market, describing the law as a “valuable document” whose gains depend on proper implementation.

A graduate of Economics from the University of Benin, Eyesan spent nearly 33 years at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and its subsidiaries, retiring as Executive Vice President, Upstream.

She highlighted her role in resolving disputes with international partners, restoring investor confidence during divestment threats, and facilitating multi-billion-dollar deep offshore investments.

She also recalled signing Nigeria’s first non-associated gas development contract and contributing to an increase in crude oil production from about 1.3 million barrels per day to 1.8 million barrels per day during her tenure.

“Having worked as an operator and participated in resource development, I believe I have the competence to regulate the industry and ensure we maximise the enormous opportunities before us,” she told the committee.

On his part, Mohammed, the nominee for the midstream and downstream regulator, placed emphasis on restoring discipline to Nigeria’s gas and petroleum supply systems through strict enforcement of contracts and quality standards.

“Gas is not a favour; it is a commodity. It must be sold based on enforceable contracts from the producer to the transporter and the end-user,” he said, arguing that weak contractual frameworks had contributed to persistent gas shortages, particularly in the power sector.

He noted that uninterrupted gas supply to some power plants was only possible where contracts existed, and obligations were clearly defined, adding that enforcing the Gas Network Code would help stabilise the system and rebuild investor confidence.

Mohammed also warned against neglecting domestic refining and processing capacity, cautioning that failure to protect local value could see the sector suffer the same fate as Nigeria’s once-thriving textile industry.

While backing exports, he said domestic needs must come first to guarantee energy security. The NMDPRA nominee pledged to revive pipeline transportation of petroleum products, attract billions of dollars in investments for gas processing infrastructure, and strengthen quality assurance through in-house laboratory facilities.

“You cannot enforce quality if you do not have the capacity to test and certify products yourself,” he said. Born in Gombe in 1957, Mohammed is a chemical engineering graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, with decades of experience across the oil and gas value chain.

He has served as Managing Director of the Nigerian Gas Company and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, as well as Group Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, at NNPC.

Reacting, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Senator Sumaila Kawu, said the screening was taking place at a critical moment for the country, noting that boosting energy production and efficiency was central to Nigeria’s economic recovery.

He disclosed that further engagements with the nominees would continue into January to deepen legislative–regulatory collaboration. The Senate is expected to consider the committee’s report in the coming days and move towards confirming the nominees, a step that would mark a new phase in the regulation of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry under the Tinubu administration.

The nominations followed the resignation of the pioneer chief executives of both agencies, Gbenga Komolafe of the NUPRC and Farouk Ahmed of the NMDPRA, who were appointed in 2021 after the Petroleum Industry Act came into force.