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NUPRC Chief, Komolafe emerges “ CEO of the Year ” at the prestigious THISDAY Awards 2025
UGO AMADI
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Commission Chief Executive, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe has been named ‘CEO of the Year ” at the prestigious THISDAY Awards 2025
The award reaffirms Komolafe’s position as a leading light in NUPRC’s regulatory transformation agenda, underscoring his unwavering dedication in promoting a sustainable value creation from Nigeria’s Petroleum Resources for shared prosperity.
It is amazing that NUPRC under his leadership is a model to other regulatory bodies in Nigeria and Africa, for its outstanding service delivery and economic growth enhancement. Most especially, he organized the most transparent Oil bid round in the history of Nigeria in 2024.
Komolafe emerged the winner in the category which had a serial digital entrepreneur, Leo Stan Ekeh , Chairman of Zinox Group, who also won the ‘CEO of the year “ in private sector category
The award ceremony, tagged “When the Going Gets Tough… the Tough Get Rewarded,” was held at the Prestigious Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos on Monday and coincided with THISDAY’s 30th Anniversary and 12th anniversaries of Arise News, respectively.
It brought together distinguished guests to celebrate the outstanding achievement across various sectors, recognising individuals and corporate organisations that have been making meaningful impact in their industries and society as a whole.
While presenting the award, the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris Malagi, commended Komolafe for his impactful and transformational leadership at NUPRC, his service to Nigeria, the African continent, and the world at large.
“This award is a great testament of his leadership at the commission and his unwavering commitment to upholding regulatory standards within Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
“This honour is well-deserved, and I urge other Chief executives to follow his exemplary leadership in contributing to the societies they serve,” Malagi stated.
Receiving the award with some of his team members, Komolafe expressed gratitude for the recognition and dedicated the award to God and the presidency who gave him the opportunity to serve and most especially his dedicated staff for standing by him.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award, which comes at a pivotal moment for us. It is a powerful affirmation of the work we have done and a reminder of the responsibility we carry to do even more.
“I am very appreciative of this award, and for us, this is our call to action to do even more. This year, we will not rest on our laurels, we will continue our robust implementation of the PIA, launch new initiatives and strengthen existing regulatory acts to deepen our impact and broaden our approach to regulatory functions.
Who is Komolafe
Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, Commission’s Chief Executive, is a great patriot and an astute engineer of repute.
He is clearly one of the leaders in the nation’s oil and gas industry, that has distinguished himself not only as a dynamic administrator, seasoned leader and technocrat but also shown a high degree of integrity and transparency in both private and public affairs.
His ingenious, creative, pragmatic, and resilient approach to regulations and leadership has brought a lot of transformation to NUPRC, an agency that is driving effective and efficient regulatory excellence and fostering investor assurance in nation’s energy sector
Since his appointment to lead the commission, Gbenga Komolafe has effectively shown great Leadership in the way he thinks and acts and, most importantly, have shown efficiency in the way he communicates.
His profile shows that he is a thorough engineer, detailed as a lawyer, and firm as astute administrator. He is unwaveringly a loyal and a patriotic Nigerian, who has served excellently at the pleasure of four different Nigerian presidents. He has contributed immensely to a productive, progressive, and more prosperous Nigerian energy sector in every working day of nearly four decades.
The same year Nigeria became a republic (1963), Gbenga Komolafe was
born in Igbara-Oke, Ifedore Local Government Area of Ondo State. He had his primary and secondary education in the state before travelling up north to Kwara, where he studied Engineering, bagging his first degree in 1987 from the University of Ilorin.
For the next two decades of his life, Engr Komolafe was deeply
dedicated to learning and personal development, bagging more degrees and certifications from renowned institutions across the world. In the space of three years, he bagged two master’s degrees from Nigeria’s Premiere University, the University of Ibadan. His first MSc was in Industrial and Labour Relations, while the second was in Industrial and Production Engineering.
As a generational talent with three degrees, Engineer Komolafe wanted to be in a position to contribute even more to his nation which informed his decision to journey to the University of Benin, where he bagged a Bachelor’s degree in Law in 2006, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 2008 after successful completion of the Law School Education at the Bwari Law School in Abuja.
Barr Gbenga Komolafe has also been trained internationally at some of
the finest institutions in the world, where he took multiple courses through the Oxford Princeton Energy Programme in the United Kingdom. He has also learned global best practices across countries such as the United States of America, UAE, Canada, United Kingdom, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, India, and Australia, just to name a few.
From serving as a Process Engineer on the Anambra State World Bank
Project in 1987, the honoree has risen through the years, becoming the first Commission Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum RegulatoryCommission (NUPRC).
As one of the few professionals in his field with such extensive education as an engineer, data specialist and lawyer, Gbenga
Komolafe is a sound and versatile technocrat with a remarkably robust and successful career. His extensive employment history spans various parastatals in the Oil and Gas Sector and pivotal government agencies in Nigeria.
Demonstrating his prowess, he has attained and efficiently managed key executive positions, showcasing his dexterity as an engineer and lawyer. He has played pivotal roles in shaping the regulatory landscape. As the Pioneer Managing Director of the Nigeria Pipeline and Storage Company (NPSC) within the NNPC, he demonstrated leadership and strategic acumen in the management of crucial infrastructure.
His extensive experience extends to roles such as Group General Manager Special Duties and Group General Manager of the Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) within the NNPC.
In addition, he has served as the Executive Director (Commercial) at the
Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) of NNPC, showcasing his versatility in the petroleum industry.
His contributions include serving as the General Manager Operations for both the Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). These roles underscore his
comprehensive understanding of the operational dynamics and regulatory frameworks within the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.
In his service to four Nigerian presidents, he actively contributed to various high-profile committees, including serving on the Presidential Committee on Open-Access Common Carrier Regime as early as 2005.
He was also recognized for his expertise, which played a significant role on the Technical Committee on Downstream Petroleum Industry Deregulation. In 2015, he was appointed to the Presidential Investigative Committee on Crude Oil Theft, highlighting his consistent involvement in key initiatives aimed at addressing critical issues in the petroleum industry.
He holds membership and Fellow status in several esteemed professional organizations, including the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Microfinance Management Institute of Nigeria, Institute of Corporate Administrators of Nigeria, Council of Registered Engineers (COREN), Fellowship of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (FNSE), Nigerian Institute of Management (NIM), and Nigeria Institute of Personnel Management (NIPM).
In terms of awards, Dr. Gbenga Komolafe has won over 40 local and
international awards, including the Presidency’s SERVICOM excellence in service award for commitment and support towards achieving the vision and mission of SERVICOM Nigeria, Award of distinction by Foreign Investment Network (FIN) and Award for excellence and commitment to the development of the oil and gas industry by the African Leadership Organisation. He was also a Presidential merit award winner of the Nigeria Society of Engineers (NSE).
The Coalition of Civil Society & Human Right Organization of Nigeria honoured him with Award of excellence for his doggedness, fairness, service orientation, resilience, and commitment to global leadership practice.
Not many professionals get the opportunity of being honoured by their own. But for Engr. Komolafe, he has received multiple awards from Nigeria Association for Energy Economics (NAEE), Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists, Petroleum Training Institute Nigeria (PTI) and Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) who gave him the Award for Revolutionary Industry Transformation.
In November 2023, he was awarded a honorary doctorate degree, Doctor of Science (D.Sc) Honoris Causa, by the University of Benin for his outstanding leadership skills, his immense contribution to university education, and his all-round excellence in the country.
When he’s not breaking records, setting new ones, or being awarded for excellent work, Gbenga Komolafe enjoys playing golf and table tennis, gardening and reading. He is happily married and blessed with children.
.Similar prestigious awards.
He was named the Vanguard Newspapers’ Personality of the Year in 2024, Champion Newspapers’ Most Outstanding Regulator of the Year in 2023, The Sun Newspapers’ winner of the Public Service Award in 2023 and Independent Newspapers’ Regulator of the Year Award in 2023.
He also received the African Energy Leadership Excellence Award in 2023, the Distinguished Trailblazer Award in 2024 from the GOVTECH Conference and Awards by the Bureau for Public Service Reform and a Recognition Award in 2024 by SERVICOM for his commitment to citizen-centered service delivery.
These honours recognise his leadership in the strategic digital transformation of a critical government agency and his unwavering commitment to excellence in service delivery, also acknowledged in 2023 by the Oil and Gas Producing communities in Nigeria (HOSTCOM)
