The Federal Government has scrapped the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), and Petroleum Equalisation Fund Management Board (PEF[M]B).
The transition of the now-defunct DPR, PEF(M)B, PPPRA to the newly introduced agencies and their chief executives is on course with respect to the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The scrapping of the agencies was announced by the State Minister for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, through a statement released on October 18, 2021.
The statement posted on the ministry’s Facebook page read, “The new agencies are the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, as well as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Authority.
“The management team comprises Engineer Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission, while Engineer Farouk Ahmed is the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority.
“H.E. Timipre Sylva charged the new chief executives to be up and doing in their respective areas, in order to ensure that there is a smoother, fuller actualisation of the PIA.”
Prior to the latest development, the DPR was responsible for monitoring fuel stations across the country to ensure products are not hoarded, among other functions.
The PEF(M)B was a special intervention put in place by the government to ensure products are sold at approved prices.
PPPRA, on the other hand, was saddled with the responsibility to determine the pricing policy and regulate the supply and distribution of petroleum products, among others.
Recall that in August 16, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the PIA to replace the obsolete Petroleum Act of 1969, after several years of pressure on successive administrations to enact the law.
