Africa’s richest man and Dangote Group President, Aliko Dangote, has leveled serious allegations against Engr. Farouk Ahmed, CEO of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), claiming that Ahmed spent $5 million on his children’s education in Switzerland and has engaged in actions amounting to economic sabotage against Nigeria by approving excessive petrol imports.
The NMDPRA oversees one of Dangote Group’s key assets, the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos. Dangote questioned how a public servant’s salary could fund $5 million in school fees at elite Swiss schools, implying that Ahmed’s expenditure may have originated from corrupt earnings.
Dangote further accused the regulatory body of undermining Nigeria’s domestic downstream oil sector by continuously issuing import licenses for refined petroleum products. “Farouk sent four of his children to top secondary schools in Switzerland, paying $5 million over six years, yet his income as a public officer cannot account for such spending,” Dangote said during a press briefing in Lagos.
He added: “He has spent his career in public service, so how did he amass this wealth to fund his children’s overseas education? The downstream sector must not be jeopardized by one individual for personal gain.”
Dangote also highlighted that the NMDPRA issued import licenses covering roughly 7.5 billion litres of petrol for Q1 2026, despite significant local refining capacity. He claimed this forces local refiners to purchase crude at higher costs while competing with subsidized or encouraged imports.
The NMDPRA previously stated that in November, the Dangote Refinery evacuated an average of 23.52 million litres of petrol per day, short of the planned 35 million litres daily. Dangote disputed these figures, arguing that the regulator reported only evacuated quantities, not total production, stressing that domestic supply is sufficient.
Dangote called for an investigation into Farouk Ahmed by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) to determine whether his official earnings match his high-profile expenditures. “The CCB needs to verify if his salary aligns with the $5 million spent on his children’s schooling. Public officers must not exploit their positions at the expense of Nigerians,” he said.
He also warned that regulatory mismanagement and corruption deter foreign investment in Nigeria’s downstream sector. “Issuing 7.5 billion litres of import licenses for Q1 2026 is reckless. Farouk should not be allowed to continue harming Nigeria’s economy. I myself could not afford to send four children to school abroad for six years at that cost,” Dangote concluded.
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