Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), has accused Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), of corruption, alleging that he paid about $5 million as school fees to Swiss secondary schools for his children.
Dangote made the allegation on Sunday during a news conference at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, where he accused the NMDPRA boss of corruption and economic sabotage.
According to the billionaire businessman, the alleged $5 million was paid for the secondary school education of four of Ahmed’s children over a six-year period.
Although he did not name the schools involved, Dangote said the expenditure suggested that the NMDPRA chief was living beyond his legitimate income, calling on the federal government to investigate the matter.
He added that such spending raised serious concerns about possible conflicts of interest and the credibility of regulatory oversight in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.
“I have people complaining about a regulator who sent four of his children to secondary school abroad, and that six-year education cost Nigeria $5 million,” Dangote said, noting that his own children attended secondary school in Nigeria.
Dangote also claimed that one of Ahmed’s children recently completed studies at Harvard University, questioning how a public official’s income could sustain such expenses.
Dangote threatens legal action
The DIL chairman said Ahmed should not be summarily sacked but given the opportunity to clear his name through a thorough investigation.
He said the Code of Conduct Bureau or any other appropriate government agency should examine whether Ahmed’s income aligns with the alleged payments.
Dangote further threatened to take legal action against the Swiss schools if Ahmed denies the allegation, saying he would seek court orders compelling the institutions to disclose the fees paid during the period.
Petrol price to drop to N740 per litre
In a related development, Dangote assured Nigerians that the pump price of petrol (PMS) would fall further, stating that fuel would sell for no more than N740 per litre in Lagos from Tuesday.
He attributed the expected reduction to the refinery’s decision to cut its gantry price to N699 per litre, adding that MRS filling stations would be the first to reflect the new price.
Dangote said the refinery had also reduced its minimum purchase requirement from two million litres to 500,000 litres to allow more marketers, including members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), to participate.
He stressed that Nigerians would benefit from locally refined fuel, both in terms of price and quality, even as fuel importers incur losses.
The latest allegation further deepens the long-standing tension between Dangote and petroleum sector regulators.
