The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has restated its commitment to transparency and promised an untainted 2025 licensing round following commendation from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative for conducting a corruption-free 2024 bidding process.
The Commission Chief Executive, Engineer Gbenga Komolafe, made the promise at an event held at the Commission’s headquarters in commemoration of the International Anti-Corruption Day. At the event, Engineer Komolafe said corruption is not an abstract issue but a danger to Nigeria’s growth and prosperity, noting that in the oil and gas sector, where the stakes are high and revenues substantial, corruption can have devastating effects on national development.
The NUPRC helmsman noted that one of the major ways the Commission had been able to tackle corruption was by reducing human interference and promoting technology like in the 2024 Licensing Round. He said: “The most compelling illustration of this reality was the Nigeria 2024 Licensing Round. For the first time in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, bid submissions were conducted fully online; commercial bidding was digital and real-time. Evaluation processes were automated, measurable, and auditable; human interference was deliberately minimized to near-zero levels. The outcome was a bidding exercise governed by competence instead of connection, process instead of persuasion, and merit instead of influence.”
Engineer Komolafe added that preparations for the Nigeria 2025 Licensing Round continue under the same digital framework, unchanged and uncompromised, emphasizing that integrity at the Commission is not episodic but institutional.
Delivering a lecture at the event, Retired Appeal Court Justice Oludotun Adebola Adefope-Okojie said the NUPRC plays a key role in Nigeria’s development as the regulator of the upstream petroleum sector. While commending the NUPRC for conducting a transparent 2024 licensing round, the retired judge advised the Commission to deliberately encourage the participation of youths in the 2025 licensing round.
Justice Adefope-Okojie stated: “With the recent announcement of the 2025 licensing round, there is an opportunity for fresh players to step forward and demonstrate their capability. The time for the youth is now. I believe it should be a deliberate policy; we need to give youths a chance to participate. They have done this in the tech space. They have produced the top unicorns in Africa. They can bring in the right partners to help Nigeria’s goal of increasing oil production.”
Source: energy-pedia.com