The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has commended the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, for outstanding leadership and effective delivery of his mandate as the Commission marks its fourth anniversary.
Senator Heineken said this when Engineer Komolafe led a delegation of top management of the Commission to the minister’s office on the sideliines of the NUPRC’s anniversary on October 21, 2025.
The Minister lauded the CCE for changing the narrative in upstream activities by restoring confidence in line with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021, which he said is evident in rising rig count.
Lokpobiri said, “Let me take the opportunity to congratulate you (Komolafe) and members of the team, for an excellent job over the last four years.
“The NUPRC is just four years old, but it looks like a 50-year-old. I don’t flatter when I talk. A four-year-old child will be in kindergarten, but the NUPRC’s achievements are like a 50-year-old. Today, the confidence is back and investments are coming.
“The NUPRC under your leadership has been discharging its mandate creditably well. You are regulating the upstream very well, and you are enabling businesses. I remember all the places we have gone together and other regulators come around just to learn how the NUPRC is regulating the upstream in Nigeria, and that is a testament to the fact that what you are doing back home is recognised globally.”
The Minister enjoined the Commission Chief Executive to leverage the lessons and achievements in the last four years to deliver more value to the upstream sector and the country.
Lokpobiri urged the management not to be “distracted by those who think their job is just to criticise. For me, as the minister who has the role to supervise the NUPRC, I want to state here that this is a journey that we have to make together. We are going to be judged on whether, during our time, we are able to improve the sector.”
He noted that the experience of the NUPRC boss is expedient for laying the foundation of the NUPRC.
“I am also happy that there is some peace in the Niger Delta, especially in the way you have managed the Host Community Trust Fund. NUPRC is taking us to a destination that Nigerians will not even expect,” he added.
The Commission boss, Engr. Komolafe, in his submission, described the anniversary as a special moment in the history of the Commission and added that the achievements recorded are a product of the support of President Bola Tinubu, as well as support from the Minister of State for Oil.
The NUPRC boss thanked the minister for his leadership and support in the regulatory activities of the Commission. He reiterated that as part of its mandate, the Commission has functioned as a business enabler and opportunity marketer in the upstream sector.
“Honourable Minister, we have done this diligently in collaboration with my team. We have been able to record a number of high-impact achievements; restore investors’ confidence and stabilise the industry regulatory-wise.
“We have been able to reintroduce ‘certainty and predictability’ into regulatory activities in the industry. We have been able to develop and gazette 24 forward-looking regulations which are the tools by which we regulate the industry in a very predictable direction that for now has earned us investors’ confidence, unlike where we took up from,” said Engr. Komolafe.
The CCE shared other scorecards of the NUPRC following the passage of the PIA, 2021.
He noted that the Commission had delivered 19 world-class regulations that had given life to the PIA.
Signed
Eniola Akinkuotu
Head, Media and Strategic Communications
