The Nigeria Oil and Gas Integrity Forum has called on President Bola Tinubu to continue to support independent regulatory institutions like the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, noting that Nigeria must build strong institutions and not strong individuals.

The forum in a press statement also urged stakeholders across the sector to work hand-in-hand with the Commission to consolidate the gains achieved so far.

President of the forum, Vivian Okorafor, while noting the critical and patriotic role of NUPRC in steering the successful implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, said the law has become the nation’s saving grace in the oil and gas sector.

Okorafor claimed the PIA law would have meant little without the “visionary, competent and firm regulatory leadership” demonstrated by the NUPRC and its leadership.

“The PIA was a monumental achievement, but the real success story is what followed. Without the solid and transparent enforcement of the law by NUPRC, we would still be grappling with regulatory uncertainties, capital flight, and investor distrust. Today, because of strong leadership at the NUPRC, Nigeria’s upstream sector has regained the confidence of both local and international investors,” the statement reads.

“In the past, regulatory opacity drained our oil industry of investments. But NUPRC has reversed that trend. Transparent bid rounds, clear licensing processes, streamlined procedures — these have restored faith in Nigeria’s petroleum sector and placed us on a competitive global footing once again,” Okorafor said.

She also highlighted the Commission’s focus on promoting Nigerian content and encouraging indigenous companies, saying these steps were crucial for broad-based economic development.

“Technology is now being deployed smartly to plug leakages. Licensing, reporting, and monitoring are now largely digital, making it difficult for underhand dealings to thrive. This is part of the transformational thinking that the NUPRC leadership has brought into the regulatory ecosystem.” she added.

Okorafor noted that one of the most critical impacts of the PIA implementation has been the new fiscal regime that now makes Nigeria a more attractive destination for upstream investments compared to the pre-PIA era.

“Before the PIA and the new fiscal frameworks enforced by NUPRC, Nigeria was losing out to other African nations like Angola and Ghana,” she explained.

“We urge Mr President to shield institutions like the NUPRC from political interference. Nigeria must build strong institutions, not strong individuals. Komolafe and his team have shown what can happen when professionalism is allowed to lead. We must nurture and protect that.

“No law is perfect. No reform is ever completely painless. But with the firm handling of the PIA, Nigeria has a chance to write a new chapter in its oil and gas history — one marked by transparency, growth, and shared prosperity.”

A fire outbreak has destroyed onions worth millions of naira in Gidan-idi Kwakwazo community, Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

This is according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in a post on ita official X handle.

The incident, which occurred around 9:00 am on Friday, gutted several local storage facilities and completely razed about 60 barns of onions.

“Fortunately, no lives were lost and no injuries were reported. The exact cause of the fire remains unknown at the time of assessment,” it added.

According to NEMA, the exact cause of the fire remains unknown as at the time of the assessment.

The disaster is a major setback for the residents of the community, where onion farming is the primary source of livelihood.

Affected farmers described the incident as a devastating blow to their means of survival.

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has said the reforms implemented by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government in the past eighteen months are not easy but are delivering results.

This is according to Cardoso’s excerpts released upon the closure of the 2025 IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., in the US.

He explained that Nigeria’s delegation attended the meetings to showcase economic reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

“Thanks to the steps taken over the past 18 months, we have strengthened our monetary buffers and positioned Nigeria to better withstand external shocks,” Cardoso said.

“To all Nigerians: these reforms are not easy, but they are delivering results. We have moved from a position of vulnerability towards one of growing strength, and our economic trajectory is beginning to turn positive”, he added.

Ekwutosblog recalls The Tinubu government rolled out several policies, including liberalisation of the foreign exchange market and fuel subsidy removal in 2023.

Cardoso introduced FX code, the Electronic Foreign Exchange System (EFEMS), and recapitalization of the financial system, among other reforms.

While the reforms under Cardoso remain noteworthy, Nigeria’s inflation dropped to 23.18 percent in March, and the interest rate stood at 27.50 percent in February 2025 amidst the rising cost of living in Nigeria.