In a strategic move to facilitate investigation and prosecution, the Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, has filed a formal petition before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) against a former Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, over alleged corruption and abuse of office.
The petition, submitted through Dangote’s legal team led by Dr. O.J. Onoja, SAN, was filed at the EFCC headquarters following the withdrawal of an earlier complaint from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The strategic decision to move the petition to the EFCC was aimed at accelerating investigations and possible prosecution of the allegations.
In the petition, Dangote urged the EFCC to investigate claims of corrupt enrichment and abuse of office against the former petroleum regulator and to prosecute him if a prima facie case is established.
“We make bold to state that the Commission is strategically positioned, along with sister agencies, to prosecute financial crimes and corruption-related offences, and upon establishing a prima facie case, the courts do not hesitate to punish offenders,” the petition read, citing Lawan v. F.R.N (2024) and Shema v. F.R.N (2018) as judicial precedents.
Dr. Onoja further called on the EFCC, under the leadership of its Chairman, Mr. Olanipekun Olukoyede, to handle the matter with urgency, stressing that swift action would serve as a deterrent to other public officers with similar “corrupt tendencies.”
The petition also described the Commission’s prompt intervention as “imperative and expedient” for restoring public confidence in Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework.
It will be recalled that on December 14, 2025, Dangote publicly raised concerns over the financial profile of Engr. Ahmed, alleging that the former regulator was living far beyond his legitimate income.
Central to the allegations is the claim that four of Ahmed’s children attended elite secondary schools in Switzerland, with tuition, travel, and upkeep costs allegedly running into millions of dollars.
According to the petition, the children attended Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institut Le Rosey, and La Garenne International School, spending approximately six years each in the institutions. Dangote estimated the annual cost per child at about $200,000, amounting to roughly $5 million for secondary education alone.
The petition further alleged that an additional $2 million was spent on tertiary education for the children, including $210,000 for a Harvard MBA program undertaken by one of them in 2025.
“Nigerians deserve to know the source of these funds, especially when many parents in Mr. Ahmed’s home state of Sokoto struggle to pay as little as ₦10,000 in school fees,” Dangote stated.
The petition calls for a comprehensive investigation into the allegations, emphasizing the need for accountability and integrity within Nigeria’s oil and gas regulatory institutions.
