CSOs laud NUPRC CEO, Gbenga Komolafe, for fight against crude theft

A coalition of Civil Society Organizations has commended Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for developmental strides in the growth of the Nigeria’s oil sector. The coalition include, Rising-Up for a United Nigeria; National Coordinator, Guardians of Democracy and Development Initiative; Rural Empowerment and Development Initiative; […]

A coalition of Civil Society Organizations has commended Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for developmental strides in the growth of the Nigeria’s oil sector.

The coalition include, Rising-Up for a United Nigeria; National Coordinator, Guardians of Democracy and Development Initiative; Rural Empowerment and Development Initiative; Executive Director, Independent Public Service Accountability Watch; Nigeria Youth Advocacy for Good Governance Initiative and Executive Director, Governance and Economic Development Monitoring Initiative

Speaking at a world press conference in Abuja, on Monday, leader of the coalition and convener, Rising-Up for a United Nigeria, Amb. Solomon Adodo, praised the NUPRC boss for keying into President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda by improving the oil regulatory activities and shoring up significant strategic production output since his assumption of office.

According to the groups: “Four days ago, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marked his one fruitful year in office. He came into office at a time of obvious economic crisis that could have led many leaders to despair.

“For the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu to have succeeded so far, especially on the economic front, certain key agencies and officers have worked tirelessly, noiselessly and profoundly to deliver creditably on their mandate. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) is foremost among those agencies. This principally hinged on the fact that with the coming on board of President Tinubu, the NUPRC received reinvigorated support which led to improvements in operations and the resultant significant increase in crude oil output and earnings for our dear nation at this critical point.

“It is in recognition of the enormous achievements of NUPRC that its outstanding Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Gbenga KOMOLAFE was bestowed with the highly prestigious Sun Public Service Award this year amongst several other recognitions and commendations both locally and internationally.

“Unlike the old order where some agencies in the oil and gas sector were accused of opaqueness, the NUPRC under Engr. Komolafe is known for openness, clarity, ease of doing business and predictability of business outcomes, which is why more upstream oil investors are flooding the country. This tide of positive news for the country does not, however, sit well with those who seek to antagonize the government and ensure President Bola Ahmed Tinubu fails even at the detriment of our collective progress. It is thus imperative that we assess the degree of success recorded in the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission since the advent of this administration whilst preferring pathways for greater support to the Commission,” the group said

Commenting on the excellent achievements of the NUPRC chief executive, the groups noted that Engineer Komolafe has been able to stabilize the oil business environment and attract massive productive partnerships.

“Some of his significant milestones include: “A significant reduction in crude oil theft since the Commission conducted a comprehensive audit of crude oil theft and evaluated the integrity of upstream assets to determine the actual extent of theft in the industry. Further measures were implemented to address crude oil theft by enhancing cargo declaration and upstream measurement processes. Additionally, enhanced regulations were put in place to combat crude oil theft, thus resulting in a major boost to Nigeria’s crude oil production from below one million barrels per day to above 1.6 million barrels per day. Presently, Nigeria’s oil production and output is at an all-time high and the environment, most conducive for business. This has led to a reversal in oil investment decline.”