The Senate’s downstream petroleum committee has put seven nominees for top regulatory posts on notice: the job comes with an obligation to deliver the president’s agenda, not stall it.
Senator Sumaila Kawu, who chairs the Senate Committee on Downstream Petroleum, opened Thursday’s screening and confirmation hearing with a blunt assessment of the sector.
Bureaucratic delays, inefficiency and deliberate non-compliance in some government agencies, he said, were working against official policy and eroding public trust.
“Some agencies are simply not helping Mr President in the actualisation of his vision for the petroleum sector. This must stop,” he said.
Kawu named no agencies and cited no specific cases. He told the nominees they would be expected to obey the law, act with integrity and accountability, and carry out government policy within their mandates.
The seven nominees are up for executive director roles in the midstream and downstream sector, spanning finance and accounts, distribution and infrastructure, health and safety, hydrocarbon processing, economic regulation, corporate services, and legal affairs.
They are Abiodun A. Adeiji, Ogbugo Kalu Ukoha, Mustapha Lamorde, Mobolaji Tajudeen Musa, Ogechukwu Olufunmilayo Modie, Said Abutalib and Jumoke Gafar.
Kawu also pressed the nominees on the human cost of reform.
Higher fuel prices, he noted, have pushed up what households and businesses pay for transport, food and other basic goods.
“Regulation must not be punitive; rather, it must be progressive, transparent, responsive and people-centred,” he said, calling for practical, sustainable steps to ease the pressure on Nigerians.
Looking ahead, he said the sector needs stronger energy security, fewer inefficiencies, healthy competition and sustainable investment.
He added that regulators must stay independent in performing their statutory duties while remaining answerable to the public.