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 paying about $5 million (approx. ₦7.2 billion) in school fees to Swiss secondary schools for his children.
Dangote made the allegation on Sunday during a news conference at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, describing the expenditure as evidence of corruption and economic sabotage within the petroleum regulatory system.
According to the billionaire businessman, Ahmed allegedly spent the sum over six years on the secondary education of four of his children. Although he did not name the schools, Dangote said the level of spending was far beyond what a public official’s income could justify.
“I’ve had people complaining about a regulator who put his children in secondary school abroad, and that secondary school education — six years for four of them — cost Nigeria $5 million,” Dangote said.
He contrasted the claim with his personal experience, noting that his own children attended secondary school in Nigeria.
“I don’t know why the authority chief executive, Mallam Farouk, educated four of his children in Switzerland at the cost of $5 million for secondary school alone, not university,” he added, alleging that one of the children later went on to Harvard University.
Dangote called on the federal government to investigate the allegation rather than summarily removing the NMDPRA boss from office, insisting that Ahmed should be given an opportunity to clear his name.
“The Code of Conduct Bureau or any other appropriate agency should investigate whether his income matches what he allegedly paid as school fees,” he said.
He further warned that if Ahmed denies the claim, he would take legal action against the Swiss schools involved to compel disclosure of the payments made.
“If he denies it, I will publish what he paid and even sue the schools to disclose how much he paid during the entire period,” Dangote said.
Beyond the allegations, Dangote also announced further reductions in the pump price of petrol, assuring Nigerians that PMS would sell for no more than N740 per litre from Tuesday in Lagos, following a cut in the refinery’s gantry price to N699 per litre.
He said MRS filling stations would be the first to reflect the new price, stressing that local refining would ultimately benefit Nigerians even as fuel importers incur losses.
Dangote also disclosed that the refinery had reduced its minimum purchase requirement from two million litres to 500,000 litres to allow more marketers, including members of IPMAN, to buy directly.
“Nigerians have a choice — to buy better quality fuel at a more affordable price or buy blended PMS at a higher rate,” he said.
The allegation marks the latest escalation in the long-running dispute between Dangote and petroleum sector regulators.