The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, has reaffirmed its commitment to regulatory certainty, transparency, and stronger stakeholder engagement as catalysts for investment and sustainable growth in Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
The pledge was made on Monday at the opening of the 2026 General Counsel and Legal Advisers Forum in Abuja.
The two-day Forum, themed “Beyond Compliance: Driving Regulatory Certainty and Investment Confidence in Nigeria’s Petroleum Sector,” convened general counsel, legal advisers, regulators, and industry stakeholders to deepen collaboration and improve the sector’s investment climate.
Declaring the Forum open, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, commended NMDPRA for institutionalising the annual engagement.
He said the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 and downstream deregulation have delivered tangible results, including expanded domestic refining capacity, improved product availability, and new opportunities across the petroleum value chain.
He urged legal advisers to champion responsible investment and good governance.
The Authority Chief Executive, Mallam Rabiu Abdullahi Umar, described the Forum as a “strategic platform for collaboration.”
“While compliance remains the foundation of effective regulation, our goal is to foster certainty, predictability and investor confidence through fair, transparent and consistent regulation,” he said.
The Authority’s Legal Adviser, Dr. Joseph Tolorunse, added that compliance must translate into confidence.
He noted that clear, stable regulation will enable investors to take long-term decisions and position Nigeria’s petroleum sector as resilient, competitive, and globally attractive.
