Four months after his appointment, President Bola Tinubu has sacked the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Saidu Mohammed.

Mohammed’s removal is coming at a time when members of the Airline Operators of Nigeria are threatening to shut down operations over the high cost of aviation fuel.

Similarly, his sack comes amid complaints by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery that the NMDPRA was issuing licences for fuel importation despite claiming that no licence had been issued since the beginning of the year.

In a statement announcing Mohammed’s removal on Wednesday, the Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said he would be replaced by Rabiu Umar.

“President Bola Tinubu has approved the removal of Mr Saidu Mohammed as the Authority Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, in the public interest.

“The President has also approved the nomination of Mr Rabiu Abdullahi Umar as the new Chief Executive of the NMDPRA. The appointment is subject to Senate confirmation,” the statement read partly.

Onanuga explained that the decision, made pursuant to the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, is aimed at strengthening regulatory effectiveness in the midstream and downstream petroleum sector, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Mr Umar is a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience across the energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors, and a proven track record in strategic leadership, operational transformation, and large-scale project delivery. He is a graduate of Accounting from Bayero University and an alumnus of Harvard Business School,” it was stated.

Pending Senate confirmation of the new nominee, the presidency said the most senior official of the NMDPRA would oversee operations in an acting capacity.

While appreciating the outgoing chief executive for his service and wishing him well in his future endeavours, the President said he remains committed to ensuring capable leadership in key regulatory institutions to advance energy security, sector reform, and sustainable economic growth.

Checks by The PUNCH revealed that Umar has been the Group Sales and Marketing Director at Dangote Cement. He has over 20 years of experience in senior and executive functions within the downstream petroleum and cement manufacturing sectors. Rabiu started his career in Oando Plc and rapidly rose to hold different management roles within the marketing business.

Our correspondent reports that Mohammed was asked to step aside as the Federal Government struggles to resolve the fuel crisis in the aviation industry.

Earlier, in a letter dated April 14, 2026, and addressed to the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, the President of AON, Abdulmunaf Sarina, said the surge in the price of Jet A1 had become unbearable for operators.

The PUNCH reports that AON had in its letter said “the price of Jet A1 as sold by marketers has risen significantly from the initial N900/litre as at February 28, 2026, to N3,300/litre. This represents an increase of over 300 per cent. This astronomical and artificial increase is not commensurate with the rise in crude oil prices and is well above international market benchmarks, which reflect approximately a 30 per cent increase in crude oil cost”.

But MEMAN disputed the prices quoted by AON, asking the airlines to seek alternative suppliers. “We would therefore strongly encourage any operators currently being charged at those levels to exercise their commercial right to seek alternative suppliers,” MEMAN said.

Since April 16, the situation has remained the same as airlines threatened to shut down their operations due to higher fuel costs. But on Monday, an NMDPRA report was quoted to have said that “the indicative end-user price should range between N1,760 – N1,988 per litre in Lagos and N1,809 – N2,037 per litre in Abuja”.

Recall also that the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, in March disagreed with the outgoing chief executive of the NMDPRA over issues about the issuance of fuel import licences by the downstream regulator.

Dangote said licences were issued to six firms to import petrol into the country. With petrol vessels coming into the country, the agency has since remained silent whenever efforts were made to get its reaction.

Recall that Farouk Ahmed, the pioneer chief executive of the NMDPRA, resigned his appointment after Dangote accused him of spending over $5m to send his children to school abroad.

Dangote had, in December 2025, petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, alleging that Ahmed spent about $7m on the secondary education of his children in Switzerland.

In the petition, Dangote accused Ahmed of abusing his office in violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, alleging unlawful spending of public funds running into millions of dollars.

At a press conference, Dangote accused Ahmed of sabotage, saying he was issuing reckless import licences when his tanks were full at the refinery. It could not be immediately ascertained if Ahmed’s successor is being removed for the same reason.