News
Tinubu nominates Magnus Abe as NUPRC chairman, 20 others, seeks Senate approval
By Francesca Hangeior
President Bola Tinubu has nominated former Rivers South-East senator, Magnus Abe, as chairman of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), following the resignation of Gbenga Komolafe.
The nomination was announced on Monday in a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who disclosed that the president has written to the Senate seeking confirmation of 21 nominees for the boards of the NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
“In the first letter, President Tinubu nominated Senator Magnus Abe to serve as the NUPRC board chair,” the statement said.
Abe, who represented Rivers South-East Senatorial District for two terms, is a former board member of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and currently chairs the National Agency for the Great Green Wall.
Other nominees for the NUPRC board include Engineer Paul Yaro Jezhi, a former Trade Union Congress chairman in Kaduna State, and Mr Sunday Adebayo Babalola, a former deputy director at the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources. Both were nominated as non-executive commissioners.
The president also nominated several executive commissioners for the NUPRC board, including Muhammed Sabo Lamido (finance), Edu Inyang (exploration and acreage), Justin Ezeala (economic regulation and strategic planning), Henry Darlington Oki (development and production), Indabawa Bashari Alka (corporate services and administration), and Mahmood Tijani (health, safety and environment). Ms Olayemi Adeboyejo was nominated as secretary and legal adviser.
In a separate letter, Tinubu nominated Mr Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in the energy sector, as chairman of the NMDPRA board.
Adeniji previously served as a technical adviser to the minister of state for petroleum and worked with the World Bank on Nigeria’s oil and gas reforms.
The president urged the Senate to “approve the nominees expeditiously,” noting that the requests followed the recent appointment of chief executive officers for both regulatory agencies.
Tinubu charged all nominees to discharge their responsibilities “professionally as regulators of the oil and gas sectors.”
Peter Obi has reacted to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s recenpt remark that 2027 would be his final presidential bid if he secures the African Democratic Candidate, ADC, ticket.
Speaking on Naija Unfiltered podcast on Saturday, Obi described Atiku as his respected leader and elder brother.
He said, “At this point, we are not at that stage yet. Atiku is my respected leader and my dear elder brother. His statement, I will always say, is a statement of a leader, and look at what he used ‘if’.
“So we can’t say what will happen about tomorrow. I can only tell you I am contesting in the election for the office of the president.”
When asked whether he would abide by any agreement reached after party primaries, Obi maintained that his acceptance would depend strictly on the credibility of the process.
“I accept what happens after it if it’s through a transparent process you can call fair and credible. I’ve said it before I left parties because I found the whole process transactional.
“It’s critical that the process through which people come into office is far more fundamental than what they do after,” he stated.
He further emphasised the importance of due process in leadership emergence, warning against cutting corners.
“You cannot jump into the house through the window and start cleaning the house and expect everybody to accept you. The process must be right,” Obi added.
Alhaji Ibrahim Galadima, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), died on Saturday after a prolonged illness.
His death was confirmed by former Secretary-General of the NFA, Sani Ahmed Toro.
Galadima was a prominent figure in Nigerian sports administration, having led the NFA before it was restructured into the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF).
He also served as Chairman of the Kano State Sports Council between 1981 and 1983.
Born in 1951 in Fagge, Kano, Galadima had a long-standing career in sports governance.
He was a member of the National Sports Commission and was elected Vice President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee in 1985, a position he held until 1987.
He was later reappointed as Chairman of the Kano State Sports Council and continued to play key roles at both state and national levels.
Galadima also served on the Presidential Monitoring Committee on the development of sports facilities for the 1995 FIFA World Youth Championship, which was initially scheduled to be hosted in Nigeria but later relocated due to health-related challenges.
In addition, he was a member of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Youth Championship Organising Committee.
In 2002, he was elected Chairman of the then Nigeria Football Association, further cementing his legacy as one of the country’s influential sports administrators.
Burial arrangements will be announced later according to family sources.
Tragedy struck the Panshanu Hill stretch of the Bauchi-Jos federal highway on Friday evening as a horrific multi-vehicle collision claimed the lives of eleven persons, leaving thirty-two others with life-threatening injuries.
The victims, including women and children, were reportedly burnt beyond recognition when the vehicles involved in the crash erupted into a massive fireball upon impact.
According to a crash report released by the RS12.14
Toro Unit Command of the Federal Road Safety Corps
(FRSC), the accident occurred at approximately 6:40
PM. FRSC personnel, who arrived at the scene within ten minutes of the report, battled to rescue survivors from the mangled, smoking wreckage.
The crash involved a white MAN mini-tanker, identified as part of the Nigerian Police fleet, and a white FIAT J5 Boxer commercial bus with registration number KTU624XY.
Preliminary investigations by the FRSC identified
“dangerous driving” and the use of “worn-out tyres” as the probable causes of the carnage. The impact, which occurred on a single, unpaved carriageway, sent both vehicles off the road and triggered an immediate inferno.
A breakdown of the casualties paints a heart-wrenching picture of the disaster. Out of the 43 persons involved in the accident, 11 fatalities were recorded, comprising one male adult, three male children, five female adults, and two female children.
The 32 injured survivors, including five male children, 19 female adults, seven female children, and one male adult, were rushed to a nearby general hospital for emergency treatment.
The Bauchi State Command of the FRSC has reiterated its warning to motorists to avoid overspeeding and ensure their vehicles are in roadworthy condition, especially when navigating the treacherous bends of the Panshanu Hill.
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