Chairman of Ɗangote Industries Ltd., Aliko Ɗangote, has accused the Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, of corruption, alleging that he spent about $5 million on secondary school education for his children in Switzerland.
Ɗangote, who made the claim on Sunday during a media briefing at the Ɗangote Petroleum Refinery and Fertiliser Plant in Lekki, Lagos, described the alleged spending as excessive for a public servant and a threat to public trust in regulatory institutions.
Ɗangote claimed that Ahmed paid the amount to Swiss schools for four of his children over a 6-year period, an expenditure he described as far beyond what the NMDPRA Chief Executive could reasonably afford on his official income.
Although he did not name the specific schools involved, the billionaire industrialist insisted that the spending pattern suggested that Ahmed was living above his means, and urged the Federal Government to launch a full investigation and prosecute the matter if wrongdoing is established.
Ɗangote further argued that the alleged expenditure raises serious concerns about potential conflicts of interest and the integrity of regulatory oversight in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, stressing that public confidence in regulatory institutions depends on transparency and accountability at the highest levels.
He said the alleged payment covered six years of secondary education and could not reasonably be justified by a government salary. “I’ve had people complaining about a regulator who put his children in secondary school abroad, which cost Nigeria five million dollars for six years for four children. My children went to secondary school in Nigeria”, he stated.
Ɗangote questioned why a public official could afford such extravagant foreign education if public funds were properly managed. “This is a system where some of us are taxpayers. When people are complaining, we also complain; because when I pay tax, I want to see my money put to use, not stolen. I don’t know why the Authority’s chief executive, Malam Farouk, has four children educated in Switzerland at this cost; and it’s only for secondary school”, he alleged.
As of the time of filing this report, neither Ahmed nor the NMDPRA had publicly responded to the allegations.
