Tinubu Sacks NMDPRA Boss Amid Jet Fuel Crisis — Rabiu Umar Named Replacement

President Bola Tinubu has sacked Saidu Mohammed as Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, less than five months after his appointment — the second NMDPRA boss to lose the job in under a year.

The removal was announced on Wednesday, April 30, by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga. Tinubu has nominated Rabiu Abdullahi Umar as Mohammed’s replacement, subject to Senate confirmation. Until the Senate acts, the most senior official at the agency will run things in an acting capacity.

The Jet Fuel Row That Sparked It

Mohammed’s exit comes as airlines push Nigeria’s aviation sector toward total shutdown. The Airline Operators of Nigeria have been screaming about a 300%-plus surge in Jet A1 aviation fuel prices, and the NMDPRA had only just attempted a price cap — a move critics said was too little, too late, and possibly counterproductive.

The sacking also follows a running fight between Dangote Refinery and the authority over import licences. Aliko Dangote had accused NMDPRA leadership of colluding with international petroleum traders to keep issuing fuel import permits even as the Dangote Refinery ramped up local production. The Refinery’s position: why import what Nigeria can now refine at home?

Second Boss Down in Less Than a Year

Mohammed’s predecessor, Farouk Ahmed, had also resigned after Dangote made allegations of corruption and abuse of office against him. That Mohammed lasted barely four months suggests the NMDPRA’s leadership problem goes deeper than personnel — the agency sits at the intersection of some of Nigeria’s most politically charged energy disputes and whoever runs it will always face enormous pressure from multiple directions.

Onanuga described Umar, the incoming nominee, as “a seasoned executive with over 25 years of experience across the energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors” and a Harvard Business School alumnus. Whether that pedigree is enough to navigate what the NMDPRA faces — crude pricing fights, import lobby groups, airline shutdowns — remains to be seen.

For now, Nigeria’s midstream and downstream sector remains a pressure cooker. Airlines are on the edge, petrol prices are climbing past ₦1,400 per litre in some parts of the country, and the regulatory body at the center of it all just had its second leadership change in under twelve months.

Sources: Punch, Premium Times, Leadership