The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has leveled grave allegations of economic sabotage and living above legitimate means against Engineer Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The billionaire industrialist made the accusations during a recent press conference at the Dangote Refinery headquarters in Lagos, linking regulatory malpractices to a personal expenditure he deems suspicious.
Dangote specifically accused the NMDPRA boss of paying approximately $5 million (about ₦7.5 Billion) for the tuition fees of his four children attending secondary schools in Switzerland.
He questioned how such an exorbitant expense for secondary education could be afforded on a public servant’s legitimate earnings, citing that his own children attended secondary schools in Nigeria despite his substantial legitimate wealth.
“He accused the NMDPRA boss of paying approximately 7.5 Billion Naira in years tuition fees for four of his children studying in Switzerland, wondering if his earnings at NMDPRA or any other legitimate income could afford such exorbitant and unnecessary school expenses,” the source stated.
The allegations of corruption are closely tied to claims of regulatory failures. Dangote accused the NMDPRA and other petroleum industry regulators of actively attempting to frustrate Nigeria’s local refining capacity.
The alleged strategy involves the continued issuance of import licenses to marketers to bring in “low quality blended PMS into Nigeria” at high prices, thereby making it difficult for local refiners, including the Dangote Refinery, to break even.
The writer of the piece, Onwuasoanya FCC Jones, PhD, strongly supported Dangote’s claims, asserting that the allegations are serious enough to warrant immediate action.
The writer challenged Engr. Ahmed to publicly disprove the allegations, while Dangote declared his readiness to publish the details of the payments and take legal steps to compel the Swiss schools to disclose the financial records.
The writer further called for the NMDPRA boss’s immediate removal and investigation by anti-graft agencies.
