The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), has been scrapped as the Senate on Wednesday, October 6 confirmed the appointment of Board members of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NURC).
The NURC nominees were confirmed following the consideration of a report by the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources.
Appointment of the nominees was according to the requirements of Sections 11 and 18 (1-5) of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021.
The establishment of the Board members imply that all duties and responsibilities the DPR had, has now been transferred.
Board members nominees confirmed were;
Isa Modibbo (Chairman); Gbenga Komolafe (Chief Executive); Hassan Gambo (Executive Commissioner, Finance and Accounts); Rose Ndong (Executive Commissioner, Exploration and Acreage Management).
Chairman of the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Senator Albert Akpan, during his presentation, acknowledged 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.
“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 said.
He added that the Senate Committee was satisfied about the qualifications, experience, suitability, competence and integrity of the nominees to assume various positions in the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission.
In his remark, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, 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 implication of the approval of board members for the commission is that the Department of Petroleum Resources has ceased to exist.”
“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.”
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