Former lawmaker, Senator Magnus Abe, has applauded President Bola Tinubu for nominating him as chairman of the board of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Senator Abe, who expressed profound gratitude to the President for the appointment, said his love and support for Tinubu was not based on expectations of reward, but on the conviction that he will deliver significant results.
Pinnacle Daily reports that President Tinubu had on Monday sent two separate letters to the Senate seeking the confirmation of 21 nominees for the boards of NUPRC and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
In the first letter, the president named Magnus Abe as chairman of NUPRC. Abe, who represented Rivers South East in the Senate for two terms, is a former NNPC board member and current chairman of the National Agency of the Great Green Wall.
The second letter to the Senate indicated that President Tinubu nominated Mr Adegbite Ebiowei Adeniji, a lawyer, as chairman of the NMDPRA board. Adeniji has over 30 years of experience in energy and natural resources issues.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Abe described the president as a leader who rewards loyalty and promotes competence. He emphasised that the appointment offers him an opportunity to make a significant contribution to the transformation of the country in the oil and gas sector, which plays a major role in Nigeria’s economy.
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The former lawmaker claimed that Tinubu is a leader whom all Nigerians can trust, countering concerns of Nigeria becoming a one-party state under the present administration.
Abe also hailed the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, describing him as a top leader of the Tinubu political family in Rivers State.
He attributed Tinubu’s victory in the 2023 presidential election in Rivers State to Wike, whom he said worked hard to deliver “Rivers State to Tinubu and the APC in the most difficult election in the history of Nigerian politics.”
“No one can claim to love Mr President and be ungrateful to our ‘Mr Project’, his support at a critical point meant a lot to our success as a family and continues to be pivotal to the success of the Tinubu family in Rivers State, which he has reformed into a unique rainbow coalition called the Renewed Hope Family,” Abe stated.
Tinubu urged the Senate to approve the nominees expeditiously.
The president’s nominations followed the recent appointment of chief executive officers for the two regulatory agencies. The Senate confirmed Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the NUPRC and Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as CEO of NMDPRA.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist, scholar and analyst of socioeconomic issues in Nigeria and Africa. He is skilled in energy reporting, business and economy, and holds a master's degree in mass communication.
