DPR scrapped as Senate confirms board members of Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission

Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has been scraped following confirmation of the appointment of board members of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission.

The confirmation of the nominees followed the consideration of a report by the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources.

The nominees confirmed include Isa Ibrahim Modibbo – Chairman; Engr. Gbenga Komolafe – Chief Executive; Hassan Gambo – Executive Commissioner, Finance and Accounts; and Ms Rose Ndong – Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage Management.

The scrapping of DPR followed the passage of revised version of MTEF/FSP when the Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan asked some Senators to make comments.

Senator Chukwuka Utazi in his contribution told the Senate that DPR should be looked into.

But Senate President quickly corrected him, that as soon as members of Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission begin operation, DPR will automatically go into extinction.

Earlier, Chairman of the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Albert Bassey Akpan, in his presentation,  said that the nominees demonstrated sufficient knowledge of the workings of the petroleum industry, especially the upstream petroleum sector, as well as the economics of petroleum exploration and production.

He added that the appointments of the nominees satisfied the requirements of Sections 11 and 18 (1-5) of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.

According to the lawmaker, “there are no adverse reports against the nominees as record checks and other forms of investigations by security agencies did not reveal any negative trace against them.”

Akpan stated that the Committee was satisfied about the qualifications, experience, suitability, competence and integrity of the nominees to assume the position of Chairman, Chief Executive and Executive Commissioners of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said the establishment of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission would provide a foundation for the stabilization of the petroleum industry in Nigeria.

He said, “The Regulatory Commission has the enormous and huge responsibility of setting and establishing the Commission as provided in the Petroleum Industry Act.

“They have the unenviable responsibility of ensuring that they commit themselves and work hard to provide the solid and stable foundation for that matter, that they don’t waste any time because time is of essence.

“The Petroleum Industry will go through a reform process and the process has already started.

 “This Commission is one of the huge arms of those reforms that will stabilize the petroleum industry in Nigeria.

 “While the Senate confirms them, we expect nothing less than commitment and patriotism on their side.

 “The Senate wishes them the best and a very fruitful tenure as they take their offices.

 “We expect that the other regulatory authority for downstream and midstream will also be confirmed as soon as possible, so they also start their work immediately.”