|
Listen now
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Africa’s richest man and President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has made a bombshell allegation against the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, stating that he spent $5 million on school fees for his children in Switzerland and is also engaged in economic sabotage against Nigeria, by approving massive petrol imports.
The NMDPRA regulates one of the Dangote Group’s major businesses, the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.
The central financial allegation is that Engr. Ahmed public sector salary could not have financed spending over $5 million on his children’s education in elite schools abroad, specifically prestigious Swiss schools, the implication of that being alleged corrupt earnings.
Dangote also accused the NMDPRA leadership of economic sabotage for continued issuance of import licenses for refined petroleum products, undermining the domestic downstream oil sector and Nigeria’s economy.
“The regulator Farouk put 4 of his children through elite secondary schools in Switzerland and paid tuition fees of $5 million over a 6-year period on his children’s education, however his income as a public servant does not match his ability to pay those fees,” Dangote said in a press briefing in Lagos.
“He (Farouk) has worked all his life in the public sector, so how did he make such an amount of money to educate his children overseas and pay such a huge amount of money? The downstream must not be destroyed by one person for personal interest.”
Dangote alleged that import licenses covering approximately 7.5 billion litres of PMS (Petrol) were issued for Q1 2026, despite significant local production capacity, which forces local refiners to buy crude at a premium and struggle to compete with subsidized or deliberately encouraged imports.
The NMDPRA said last week that the Dangote Refinery evacuated 23.52 million litres per day of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol on average in the month of November, adding that the figure fell short of the planned Dangote Refinery domestic PMS or petrol supply of 35 million litres a day.
Dangote however disputed the NMDPRA figures stating that the regulator was only reporting what had been evacuated from the refinery and not the total output that was produced.
“There is more than enough to supply the market,” Dangote said.
Farouk must be investigated says Dangote
Dangote said the NMPDRA Chief Executive Officer (CEO)Farouk Ahmed must be investigated by the appropriate authorities such as the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to ascertain if his earnings as a public officer matches his high profile expenditure.
“Let the legal process take its place. The CCB needs to see if his (Farouk’s) salary matches the $5 million spent on his children’s school fees. He must not compromise his government job at the cost of Nigerians, when a lot of people cannot pay N100,000 school fees in Sokoto State where he comes from,” Dangote said in the press briefing with MoneyCentral in attendance.
Dangote said that very few foreigners are operating in Nigeria’s downstream sector due to the corrupt practices and regulatory uncertainty hindering the sector.
“The NMDPRA issued a reckless amount of licenses for petrol imports to the tune of 7.5 billion liters for the first quarter (Q1) of 2026,” Dangote said.
“Farouk should not be allowed to continue to destroy the economy of Nigeria. He should be investigated by the Code of Conduct Bureau. I will not be able to afford sending four of my kids to school abroad for six years for $5 million in Switzerland.”
Follow the MoneyCentral Nigeria channel on WhatsApp: Click here!
, Farouk Ahmed spent $5 million on school fees for his children in Switzerland){kind=link}