By Francis Ajuonuma
Africa’s richest man and Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has formally petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over allegations of corruption and financial misconduct against the Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ahmed Farouk.
The petition, dated December 16 and filed through Dangote’s counsel, Ogwu Onoja (SAN), urged the anti-graft agency to arrest, investigate and prosecute the NMDPRA chief for allegedly maintaining a lifestyle far beyond what his legitimate earnings as a public servant could support.
Documents submitted to the ICPC, and acknowledged by the office of its Chairman, Musa Aliyu (SAN), alleged that Farouk expended more than $7 million, without proof of lawful income, on the education of his four children in Switzerland, paying tuition fees upfront for six years.
Dangote’s petition reportedly detailed the names of the children, the Swiss schools they attended and the specific sums paid for each, to enable verification by investigators.
He further accused the NMDPRA boss of deploying the regulatory agency’s authority and resources to siphon public funds for personal gain and private interests, actions he claimed had recently triggered public outrage and protests by concerned groups.
The industrialist argued that Farouk had spent his entire working life in Nigeria’s public sector and that his cumulative earnings could not reasonably amount to the millions of dollars allegedly expended on foreign education.
According to Dangote, the funds used for the overseas schooling of the official’s teenage children were diverted from public resources meant for the Nigerian people.
“It is without doubt that the above facts in relation to abuse of office, breach of Code of Conduct for public officers, Corrupt enrichment, and embezzlement are gross acts of corrupt practices for which your Commission (ICPC) is statutorily empowered under section 19 of the ICPC Act to investigate and prosecute,” Dangote said.
“Upon a successful prosecution of such a person, under section 19 of the ICPC Act, the person is liable to imprisonment for five years without an option of fine.
“We make bold to state that the ICPC is strategically positioned along the sister agencies to prosecute financial crimes and other corruption-related offences, and upon establishing a prima facie case, the Courts do not hesitate to punish offenders.
“In view of the above, we call on the Commission under your leadership to investigate the complaint of abuse of office and corruption against Engr Farouk Ahmed and to prosecute him accordingly if found wanting.
“We have no reservation that, being a matter that is in the public domain, the Commission will not close its eyes to it but act decisively to ensure that justice is done and the good image of the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is protected.”
Dangote also pledged to cooperate fully with investigators, stating his readiness to present documentary and other evidence to substantiate his claims of corrupt enrichment and abuse of office.
The Kano-born businessman had earlier raised the allegations publicly during a media interaction on Sunday, where he openly questioned the source of Farouk’s wealth.
“I’ve had people actually complaining about a regulator who put his children in secondary school, and that secondary school education, which is six years, four of them cost Nigeria five million dollars,” he said at a press conference at the Dangote Refinery in the Ibekku-Lekki area of Lagos State.
“My children went to secondary school in Nigeria. They did not go outside Nigeria to attend secondary school.”
On Tuesday, Dangote escalated the matter by publishing further details of the allegations in a national newspaper before formally submitting his petition to the ICPC later the same day.
He argued that the issue transcends personal rivalry, insisting that Nigerians deserve transparency from public officials.
“Nigerians deserve to know the source(s) of these sums of money paid by a public officer while many parents in his home state of Sokoto cannot afford to pay N10,000 school fees for their children and wards”.
Dangote also accused the NMDPRA of deliberately undermining efforts to strengthen local refining capacity, particularly by continuing to issue petroleum import licences despite the existence of domestic refining infrastructure.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has stepped into the escalating dispute, summoning both Dangote and the NMDPRA boss to appear before it.
The Joint Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream and Midstream) have also directed both parties to refrain from further public commentary, warning that the feud could inflame tensions and destabilise Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.
“We can only find sustainable solutions when we identify the critical issues leading to this tension.
“That is why the committee resolved to write to Alhaji Aliko Dangote and the NMDPRA chief to meet with us and give insights into what is driving these allegations and counter-allegations,” one of the committee leaders, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said.
The clash between the regulator and the industrialist dates back to last year, following the commencement of operations at the Dangote Refinery.
In July of that year, Farouk had claimed that products from local refineries, including Dangote’s, were inferior in quality to imported petroleum products.
He also accused Dangote of attempting to monopolise Nigeria’s energy supply chain—an allegation the refinery owner firmly rejected.
The House of Representatives subsequently investigated the dispute and called for Farouk’s suspension.
In August 2024, the NMDPRA stated that the Dangote Refinery was still undergoing pre-commissioning and had not yet been granted a full operational licence.
*Claims are exaggerated, misleading and driven by vested interests- NMDPRA boss responds
Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, has dismissed allegations linking his children’s education abroad to corruption, describing the claims as exaggerated, misleading and driven by vested interests unsettled by tougher regulatory reforms.
In a statement dated December 16, 2025, Ahmed said he was responding not because he feared scrutiny, but because the accusations were being promoted in a manner suggesting a coordinated attempt to distract the regulator from its statutory mandate.
He grounded his defence in what he described as over three decades of service in Nigeria’s petroleum sector, beginning in 1991 as a junior engineer with the then Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR). According to him, his rise through the ranks was based on merit and professional competence rather than political patronage.
Ahmed said he served across core technical and operational units, including crude oil marketing, gas supply monitoring and downstream operations—areas he described as driven by technical realities and market dynamics rather than politics.
He recalled serving as General Manager of the Crude Oil Marketing Division in 2012 and later overseeing downstream operations in 2015, during periods of fuel scarcity and pricing challenges.
He said his appointment as NMDPRA chief executive in 2021 came with a clear mandate to implement the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) transparently and without favour, noting that such reforms would inevitably provoke resistance from interests accustomed to decades of opacity and preferential licensing.
Addressing claims that he spent about $5 million on Swiss secondary education for his children, Ahmed said the figure was speculative and unsupported by facts.
He disclosed that three of his four children received merit-based scholarships covering between 40 per cent and 65 per cent of tuition, adding that the details were verifiable by authorised investigators.
He also said his late father, whom he described as a Northern Nigerian businessman, established education trust funds for his grandchildren before his death in 2018, consistent with extended family traditions of collective investment in education.
Ahmed stated that his annual compensation as NMDPRA chief executive, which he put at about ₦48 million inclusive of allowances, is publicly available in audited reports.
He argued that when scholarships, family support, long-term savings and cooperative investments are considered, his children’s education did not require illicit enrichment.
He said he has submitted asset declarations to the Code of Conduct Bureau annually since entering public service and has authorised the schools attended by his children to disclose financial records to authorised Nigerian investigators.
Ahmed linked the timing of the allegations to NMDPRA’s enforcement actions, including stricter licensing, tougher quality controls and increased transparency in supply and pricing.
He insisted that personal attacks would not deter the agency from its statutory responsibilities or its ongoing reforms in Nigeria’s long-term interest.
