By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) have moved to formalise a closer working relationship under the country’s new tax regime to ensure that upstream oil and gas revenues get tighter oversight and improved collection.

The renewed revenue alliance was activated when the chief executive of NUPRC, Mrs Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, paid a strategic visit to the chairman of NRS, Mr Zacch Adedeji, at the tax agency’s corporate headquarters in Abuja.

The engagement comes less than two weeks after new tax laws took effect on January 1, 2026, mandating deeper collaboration between sector regulators and revenue authorities in the collection of oil and gas proceeds accruing to the Federation.

Speaking during the meeting, Mrs Eyesan said the engagement was part of her post-assumption consultations aimed at aligning the upstream regulator with critical national revenue institutions.

“With the new tax laws now in force, it is important that NUPRC and NRS work in close coordination to ensure that oil and gas revenues due to the Federation are fully captured,” Mrs Eyesan said.

“Our mandate goes beyond regulation. It includes ensuring transparency, efficiency and accountability in revenue flows from upstream petroleum operations.”

She stressed that effective collaboration between both agencies would strengthen compliance, reduce leakages and support government revenue targets at a time of heightened fiscal pressure.

On his part, Mr Adedeji said the tax authority was committed to working with sector regulators to maximise revenue mobilisation under the evolving legal framework.

“The oil and gas sector remains critical to Nigeria’s revenue base, and collaboration with NUPRC is essential to meeting government revenue targets,” Mr Adedeji said.

“With clearer laws and better data-sharing between our institutions, we can significantly improve collection efficiency and enforcement.”

Both agencies agreed to deepen cooperation through information sharing and coordinated operational strategies, in line with the provisions of the new tax laws governing petroleum operations.

The meeting concluded with a shared resolve by NUPRC and NRS to prioritise national interest, tighten revenue assurance mechanisms and ensure that Nigeria derives maximum value from its upstream petroleum resources.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

To double down on Africa’s tech talent pipeline, the continent’s leading digital financial services provider, Moniepoint Incorporated, has opened applications for the second cohort of its flagship transformative programme, DreamDevs initiative.

A statement from the organisation disclosed that entries are expected to close on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, and should be submitted via dreamdevs.moniepoint.com.

Selection will be based on technical aptitude, learning potential, and alignment with Moniepoint’s values of innovation and excellence.

DreamDevs was created to bridge the tech talent gap in Africa by equipping recent graduates with industry-ready skills and real-world experience.

Each year, just 20 high-potential candidates are selected into an intensive bootcamp, with the strongest performers progressing into internship and full-time roles at Moniepoint.

Last year’s cohort delivered four hires – three interns and one full-time engineer – validating the programme’s role as a high-impact talent pipeline.

Targeting graduates from technology, computer science, engineering, and related fields with foundational programming knowledge in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, DreamDevs offers a rigorous nine-week boot camp that immerses participants via hands-on training from leading software engineers. Standout performers will secure six-month internship placements at Moniepoint, with potential progression to full-time employment based on performance.

“The results from our first cohort validated our belief that with the right training and support, Africa’s young tech talent can compete globally.

“This year, we’re doubling down on our commitment by aiming to convert half of our participants into full-time employees. For us, DreamDevs is all about creating sustainable career pathways that drive Africa’s digital economy forward,” the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Moniepont, Mr Felix Ike, said.

“We’re proud to support the government’s vision of building three million technical talents while also creating direct employment opportunities through initiatives like DreamDevs. This multi-faceted approach ensures we’re contributing to national goals while simultaneously addressing our industry’s immediate talent needs.

“By investing in young people and providing them with practical experience, startup incubation support, and product development opportunities, we are not only creating high-impact jobs and driving sustainable economic growth across the continent,” he added.

Sharing his experience, a member of the first cohort and now a Backend Engineer at Moniepoint, Mr Victor Adepoju, said, “The organisation of the programme was top-notch. The training covered a wide range of topics and provided a solid foundation I could continue to build on.

“I learned a great deal about cloud technologies, particularly Google Cloud Platform. The program also emphasised valuable soft skills, including planning, organisation, and prioritisation, which have been very useful in my day-to-day work.”

DreamDevs aligns with Moniepoint’s broader vision of using technology to power the dreams of millions and engineer financial happiness across Africa. It complements the company’s existing talent development programs, including HatchDev – a collaboration with NITHub Unilag that produces 500 specialised developers annually across software engineering, intelligent systems, and IoT/embedded systems as well as its hugely popular, Women-in-Tech which is now in its fifth year. The initiative is also in tandem with the federal government’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, for which Moniepoint serves as a key sponsor. While the 3MTT programme focuses on mass technical skills training across Nigeria, DreamDevs provides a specialised pathway that takes graduates from foundational training through to employment, creating a complete talent development ecosystem.

Modern software releases move fast, and manual regression testing often slows teams down. Machine learning helps automate repetitive checks, cut testing time, and reduce human error. It speeds up regression testing by predicting which test cases matter most and improves accuracy by detecting defects that manual testing can miss.

By analyzing past results and application changes, machine learning models identify high-risk areas that need attention. They can also update test scripts automatically and flag false positives before they waste valuable time. The process transforms quality assurance from a time-heavy step into an intelligent, data-driven practice.

As the discussion continues, the focus will shift to how specific machine learning techniques accelerate regression testing and how these models raise accuracy through smarter decision-making. Understanding these methods helps teams deliver better software faster and with greater confidence.

Machine Learning Approaches for Accelerating Regression Testing

Machine learning models now play a key role in improving test speed, accuracy, and adaptability. They help teams predict risk, focus on high-impact areas, and maintain large test suites with less manual input. Machine learning models now play a key role in improving test speed, accuracy, and adaptability. By analyzing past test data and application changes, these models help identify the most critical areas for testing, ensuring a more targeted approach. By prioritizing high-risk areas, machine learning-driven testing explained by Functionize allows teams to streamline their testing efforts, reducing unnecessary tests and focusing on what matters most. Compared to traditional manual testing, which can be time-consuming and prone to human error, machine learning models can quickly identify patterns and potential issues that might otherwise go unnoticed. While automated testing tools can speed up the process, machine learning-driven approaches offer a more intelligent, data-driven way to improve both speed and accuracy. As these models continuously learn from new data, they adapt to changes in the application, further refining their predictions.

Automated Test Case Prioritization and Selection

Automating test case selection saves time and helps quality teams focus on changes that matter most. Machine learning models analyze historical data such as past defects, code changes, and execution logs to determine which tests have the highest chance of catching new issues. This allows testers to run fewer but more meaningful tests.

Predictive algorithms can rank test cases by likelihood of failure or business impact. For instance, a model might use data on recent commits or modules with high defect density to reorder the suite. Teams then gain faster feedback without running every test after each build.

By pairing historical analytics with real-time signals, this approach reduces test redundancy while keeping accuracy high. It supports continuous delivery pipelines that require quick cycle times and minimal rework.

AI-Powered Test Suite Maintenance and Self-Healing Scripts

Maintenance creates major delays in large regression cycles. As interfaces or code structures evolve, older scripted tests often stop working. Machine learning can fix this problem by enabling self-healing test logic. It learns from element attributes, layout changes, and user flows to adjust tests automatically.

This approach reduces manual effort, since a tester does not need to rewrite scripts after each UI update. Modern tools track patterns across thousands of interface elements and use visual recognition to identify what changed in the application.

By adapting on its own, the system keeps tests useful through many software updates. The result is less downtime and fewer false failures, even as products shift between releases.

Optimizing Test Coverage and Efficiency with Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics models find gaps in existing tests and highlight areas that may need more coverage. This process often uses code churn data, historical defect rates, and user interaction logs to show where defects are most likely to appear. Teams then direct testing resources to those higher-risk areas.

These analytics can also help balance test distribution. For example, low-risk components might need only lightweight checks, while high-impact modules receive deeper testing.

Applying predictive insights helps achieve both higher coverage and faster delivery. It also allows early detection of potential stability issues before they reach production, reducing overall costs and improving test efficiency across each release cycle.

Improving Regression Test Accuracy with Machine Learning Models

Machine learning models can increase regression test accuracy by predicting which test cases matter most, identifying fault patterns in code, and reducing the time needed to verify new changes. Effective use of data preparation, model selection, and evaluation leads to stronger predictions and fewer missed defects.

Model Selection and Evaluation for Test Prediction

Choosing the right regression model defines how well predictions match real test outcomes. Models such as linear regression, random forest, support vector regression, and gradient boosting each handle data relationships differently. A good approach is to begin with a baseline model to compare performance across several algorithms.

Teams often use scikit-learn tools like RandomForestRegressor, GradientBoostingRegressor, and Ridge to predict regression test results. Selecting models with strong generalization avoids wasted computing time. Cross-validation, especially k-fold cross-validation, helps confirm performance consistency across datasets.

Evaluation metrics such as mean squared error (MSE), root mean squared error (RMSE), and R² (coefficient of determination) measure predictive accuracy. Lower MSE or RMSE values indicate better alignment between predictions and test outcomes. Using multiple metrics gives a balanced view of model performance.

Feature Engineering and Data Preparation for Reliable Outputs

Accurate results depend on clean and well-prepared data. Exploratory data analysis (EDA) helps detect outliers, missing values, or strong correlations that may distort predictions. Columns can be transformed using feature scaling, standardization through StandardScaler, or one-hot encoding for categorical variables.

Data normalization keeps all features within a similar scale, which prevents large-value features from dominating the model. Missing values can be filled with methods like SimpleImputer, improving input consistency. Feature selection or recursive feature elimination (RFE) can remove unnecessary inputs that lower performance.

Balanced and properly formatted input data allows regression models to identify true patterns in software behavior. A clear data structure reduces noise in predictions and increases confidence in each result.

Preventing Overfitting and Ensuring Model Strength

Models that perform too well on training data may fail with new code changes. Overfitting often occurs when the model captures random noise instead of meaningful test patterns. Careful cross-validation and hyperparameter tuning help control this issue.

Regularization techniques such as Lasso regression and Ridge regression limit unnecessary complexity by applying penalties to large coefficients. This keeps predictions stable across updates. GridSearchCV in scikit-learn can systematically test combinations of regularization strengths to find balanced settings.

Ensemble methods like bagging, random forest, or gradient boosting (XGBoost) combine multiple predictors to increase stability. These approaches average out errors across models and reduce sensitivity to specific data conditions. A consistent evaluation process helps maintain long-term predictive accuracy in regression testing pipelines.

Conclusion

Machine learning allows teams to speed up regression testing by analyzing test results and predicting which areas of code need the most attention. This targeted approach cuts down on repetitive test runs and saves time. As a result, test cycles move faster without losing accuracy.

AI-based tools also make test scripts adapt automatically to software updates. That reduces manual maintenance and helps keep test cases relevant. By using data-driven insights, teams can focus on the most important test cases instead of running thousands that add little value.

The technology also improves defect detection. For example, algorithms can separate real failures from false positives, so testers can act on genuine issues more quickly. The process becomes more efficient and dependable.

In summary, machine learning makes regression testing faster, smarter, and more precise. It allows development teams to maintain software quality while releasing updates at a steady pace.