Aliko Dangote, the Founder, President, and Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, has leveled corruption accusations against the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, alleging that Ahmed spent $5 million on secondary school education for four of his children in Switzerland.
Dangote made the serious allegation during a media briefing on Sunday at his refinery complex in Lekki, Lagos.
He described the alleged expenditure as entirely “inconsistent with a public servant’s income” and a threat to public trust in regulatory institutions.
The billionaire claimed that the $5 million payment covered six years of secondary education for four children—an amount he argued could not be “reasonably be explained by earnings from public service.”
Dangote contrasted this spending with his own family’s choices, stating:“I’ve had people actually complaining about a regulator who put his children in secondary school, and that secondary school education, which is six years, four of them cost Nigeria five million dollars. My children went to secondary school in Nigeria. They did not go outside Nigeria to attend secondary school.”
Questioning public accountability, Dangote demanded to know how a public official could afford such massive foreign education expenses if public funds were being utilized properly:“This is a system where some of us are taxpayers. When people are complaining, we also complain, because when I pay tax, I want to see my money put to use, not stolen.”
He continued the attack by naming the official:“I don’t know why the authority chief executive, Mallam Farouk, has four children educated in Switzerland at the cost of five million dollars for their secondary school education alone, not university,” he alleged.
Dangote insisted that the alleged expenditure raises “serious concerns about income declaration, conflicts of interest, and regulatory integrity in the downstream petroleum sector.”
He demanded public transparency from the NMDPRA chief:“The man must come and explain to Nigerians how he paid five million dollars for six years of his four children’s education. I don’t think any of you here has paid that kind of fees for your own children. We cannot allow this to continue, because we must make sure people do not come and destroy a country just because they want to make a living that is not genuine or legal,” he said.
The CEO referenced further reports about overseas university education, lamenting, “I know that one of them just finished Harvard. I want to see what kind of system we are operating where people are busy destroying a country and taking money from government, because their income does not match this kind of spending.”
Dangote argued that Ahmed should not be immediately dismissed but must be investigated by relevant authorities, such as the “Code of Conduct Bureau,” to clear his name.
He reiterated the core investigative question:“Let them see whether his income matches the five million dollars paid as school fees for six years for four children. This is without tickets. He does not need to be sacked. Let him come and clear that he has not compromised his positions in government at the cost of Nigerians,” he said.
Contrasting this alleged spending with the struggles of ordinary citizens—where “people are struggling to pay ₦100,000 for secondary school fees”—Dangote warned that if the allegation is denied, he would take legal steps to compel disclosure:“If he denies it, I will not only publish what he paid as tuition in those secondary schools, but I will also sue the schools to disclose how much he paid for the entire period. He should tell Nigerians which universities they attended and how much was paid there. People who have done something wrong must be prosecuted,” he warned.
As of the time of filing the report, Farouk Ahmed had not yet responded to the allegations.
