President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has accused the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, of spending about $5 million on the secondary school education of his four children in Switzerland, calling for a full investigation into the source of the funds.
Dangote made the allegation on Sunday during a press briefing at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, where he spoke on what he described as regulatory failures and entrenched corruption in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector.
According to the billionaire industrialist, the alleged expenditure is inconsistent with the earnings of a career public servant and, if left unexamined, could erode public trust and investor confidence in the sector.
“I’ve actually had people making complaints about a regulator who has put his children in secondary school abroad,” Dangote said.
“That secondary school education, which is six years for four children, allegedly cost about $5 million. You cannot imagine somebody paying $5 million just to educate four children in secondary school.”
Dangote argued that such spending would ordinarily attract scrutiny from tax and anti-corruption authorities.
“When you look at his income, his income does not match paying this kind of fee,” he added.
“Even if it’s me paying $5 million over six years for my four children, the taxman has to look at my taxes and how much I pay.”
He also highlighted the contrast between the alleged spending and the economic hardship faced by many Nigerians, particularly in Ahmed’s home state of Sokoto.
“From Sokoto, where he comes from, people are struggling to pay ₦100,000 for school fees,” Dangote said.
“A lot of children are at home because of ₦100,000. I cannot understand why somebody who has worked all his life in government would have four children whose school fees amount to $5 million.”
Dangote stressed that his remarks were not a personal attack but a call for accountability and transparency.
“I am not calling for his removal,” he said.
“What I am asking for is a proper investigation. He should be required to account for his actions and demonstrate that he has not compromised his position to the detriment of Nigerians. What is happening amounts to economic sabotage.”
He urged relevant authorities, including the Code of Conduct Bureau and the Code of Conduct Tribunal, to probe the matter.
“If he denies it, I will not only publish what was paid as tuition in those secondary schools, but I will also take legal steps to compel the schools to disclose the payments made by Farouk,” Dangote stated.
Dangote also disclosed that his own children attended secondary school in Nigeria, not abroad.
“Even my own children didn’t go to those schools,” he said.
“My children went to a Nigerian secondary school.”
The allegation is not new. In July, a group accused Ahmed of spending more than $5.5 million on the foreign education of his four children—claims the NMDPRA dismissed at the time as false and part of an orchestrated smear campaign against the agency’s leadership.
Beyond the personal allegations, Dangote criticised what he described as powerful vested interests within the downstream petroleum sector, accusing regulators of enabling excessive fuel imports at the expense of local refining.
“There are powerful interests in the oil sector,” he said.
“It is troubling that African countries continue to import refined products despite long-standing calls for value addition and domestic refining.”
He warned against the overlap of regulatory and commercial interests, insisting that such practices discourage investment.
“A trader should never be a regulator,” Dangote said.
“Forty-seven licences have been issued, yet no new refineries are being built because the environment is not conducive.”
Dangote maintained that domestic refining would ultimately benefit Nigerians, even if fuel importers incur losses, adding that his refinery was working to ensure recent reductions in gantry prices were reflected at retail outlets nationwide.
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