{"id":96639,"date":"2025-12-15T12:56:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T12:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=96639"},"modified":"2025-12-15T12:56:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T12:56:35","slug":"updated-story-dangote-calls-for-probe-of-nmdpra-ceo-over-alleged-corruption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=96639","title":{"rendered":"Updated Story: Dangote calls for probe of NMDPRA CEO over alleged corruption"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Dangote, with refinery in the background.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Africa\u2019s richest man and industrialist Aliko Dangote has intensified his dispute with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), accusing its Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, of corruption and economic misconduct \u2014 allegations that have sparked calls for formal investigations and also drawn pushback from civil society groups.<\/p>\n

The feud, which has been simmering for months, boiled over at a media briefing held by Dangote on Sunday at his Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Fertiliser Plant in Lekki, Lagos. In that briefing:<\/p>\n

Dangote’s core allegations include the following:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Unexplained Expenditure on School Fees:
\nDangote alleges that Farouk Ahmed spent approximately $5 million on the secondary school education of his four children in Switzerland \u2014 a figure Dangote says is inconsistent with the income of a public sector official. He described this as a *potential indicator of corrupt enrichment or misuse of office *.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Economic Sabotage of Nigeria\u2019s Oil Sector:
\nDangote also framed his critique within a broader allegation that NMDPRA\u2019s policies \u2014 particularly the issuance of large import licences for petroleum products \u2014 are undermining local refining capacity, including his own refinery. He has called this economic sabotage.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Calls for Official Investigations:
\nDangote has urged authorities like the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and other anti-corruption agencies to investigate whether Ahmed\u2019s income as a public servant could reasonably support such spending. He has not publicly provided evidence of misuse of public funds but insists the situation deserves scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Dangote has argued that continued heavy licensing of petroleum product imports \u2014 at a time when local refining capacity exists \u2014 suggests regulatory capture or misaligned incentives within the NMDPRA that benefit importers over domestic producers. This forms part of his broader economic argument against Ahmed\u2019s stewardship of the sector.<\/p>\n

As of the latest reports, the regulator has not publicly confirmed the specific school-fee figures, and in past months the NMDPRA has described various public allegations against its CEO as unfounded or part of smear campaigns \u2014 citing what it calls ongoing oversight and routine financial audits as evidence of transparency.<\/p>\n

Some groups have backed Dangote\u2019s position and called for investigations, protests, and formal complaints to anti-graft agencies. Tori.ng<\/p>\n

Other civil society organisations have criticised the allegations, calling them baseless or politically motivated, and even issued public apologies to Farouk Ahmed after retracting earlier claims.<\/p>\n

Energy sector analysts and consumer advocates have weighed in, noting that spending on private education alone does not prove corruption without a transparent financial audit or documented misuse of public funds \u2014 and that improper attribution can damage institutional integrity if not verified.<\/p>\n

Dangote has pledged to pursue legal action if his allegations are denied, including potential suits to compel disclosure of specific payments and educational expenses.<\/p>\n

Calls for official investigations by Nigeria\u2019s anti-corruption agencies (such as the EFCC, ICPC, and CCB) are gaining traction in some quarters \u2014 though the NMDPRA rejects the premise.<\/p>\n

The dispute highlights longstanding concerns in Nigeria about:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Regulatory integrity in the oil sector;<\/p>\n

\u2022 Public trust and accountability of senior officials;<\/p>\n

\u2022 The gap between perceived wealth and official earnings;<\/p>\n

\u2022 And the difficulty of proving corruption without transparent financial records.<\/p>\n

If formal investigations are launched and documented findings released, it could become one of the year\u2019s most significant high-profile corruption cases in Nigeria\u2019s public sector.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa\u2019s richest man and industrialist Aliko Dangote has intensified his dispute with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), accusing its Chief Executive, Farouk Ahmed, of corruption and economic misconduct \u2014 allegations that have sparked calls for formal investigations and also drawn pushback from civil society groups. The feud, which has been simmering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":96634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,7],"tags":[2549,7688,7690,7689],"class_list":["post-96639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","category-news","tag-ahmed","tag-dangota","tag-school-fees","tag-switzerland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=96639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96639\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/96634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=96639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=96639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=96639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}