Farouk Ahmed has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA.
His resignation comes less than 24 hours after corruption allegations were publicly raised against him by Aliko Dangote, President and Chief Executive of Dangote Industries Limited.
In a related development, Gbenga Komolafe, head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, also resigned from his position.
The resignations were confirmed on Wednesday in a statement issued by presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga. He disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has already nominated replacements for both positions.
According to the statement, the President has forwarded the names of the nominees to the Senate and requested speedy confirmation.
Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan has been nominated as the new Chief Executive Officer of the NUPRC, while Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed has been selected to head the NMDPRA.
Onanuga described both nominees as experienced professionals with strong backgrounds in the oil and gas sector.
