According to the petition, Ahmed allegedly spent over $7 million on the education of his four children in Switzerland, paying school fees upfront for six years.
Africa’s richest man and President/Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has formally petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged corruption, abuse of office and illicit enrichment by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engineer Farouk Ahmed.
Dangote, in the petition dated December 16 and addressed to the ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), demanded the arrest, investigation and prosecution of Ahmed, accusing him of living far above his legitimate means as a public servant.
According to the petition, Ahmed allegedly spent over $7 million on the education of his four children in Switzerland, paying school fees upfront for six years.
The businessman noted that the amount could not be justified by the total earnings of a career public servant.
The businessman reportedly named the four children, their schools and the specific sums paid for each of them, urging the anti-graft agency to verify the claims and establish what he described as “clear evidence of corrupt enrichment.”
Dangote further alleged that the NMDPRA chief abused his office by diverting public funds for personal use, accusing him of deploying the regulatory authority as an instrument for embezzlement and the pursuit of private interests to the detriment of Nigerians.
He claimed that the alleged misconduct by Ahmed had triggered recent public outrage and protests by different groups across the country.
The refinery owner insisted that Ahmed’s lifetime earnings in public service could not lawfully account for such expenditure, alleging that the funds used to educate his children abroad were diverted from public coffers.
“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 constitute gross acts of corruption,” Dangote said in the petition.
He urged the ICPC to act decisively under Section 19 of the ICPC Act, noting that the law prescribes a five-year jail term without an option of fine for such offences.
Dangote said he was prepared to personally appear before investigators to provide documentary and other evidence to substantiate his allegations against the NMDPRA boss.
The allegations were first made public by Dangote during a media interaction at the Dangote Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, on Sunday, where he questioned Ahmed’s source of wealth and accused the regulator of frustrating local refining efforts through the continued issuance of fuel import licences.
“Nigerians deserve to know the source of these sums of money paid by a public officer while many parents in his home state of Sokoto cannot afford N10,000 school fees for their children,” Dangote said.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has stepped into the growing rift between Dangote and the NMDPRA leadership, summoning both parties to appear before its Joint Committees on Petroleum Resources (Midstream and Downstream).
The lawmakers also directed both parties to refrain from further public statements, warning that the escalating tension could destabilise the downstream petroleum sector.
“We can only find sustainable solutions when we identify the critical issues leading to this tension,” a member of the committee, Ikenga Ugochinyere, said.