By Harry Awurumibe, Editor, Abuja Bureau
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engineer Ahmed Farouk, has responded to allegations of corruption and financial misconduct levelled against him by billionaire industrialist, Aliko Dangote, describing them as “malicious, ill-timed, and commercially motivated.”
Speaking through a statement he released on Tuesday evening in Abuja, titled “A Question of Integrity”, Engr. Farouk said the accusations regarding the financing of his children’s education abroad were a deliberate attempt to smear his reputation and undermine the independence of the NMDPRA.
Indeed, the response came some hours after Dangote, through his lawyer Ogwu Onoja (SAN), submitted a formal petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), demanding Farouk’s arrest and prosecution for allegedly spending over $7million of public funds on his children’s education in Switzerland, a claim the NMDPRA chief said was “entirely false and rooted in ulterior motives.”
But Farouk in his statement he personally authored started by asserting that his long career in Nigeria’s petroleum sector, spanning over three decades, was built on merit, transparency, and national service, not political patronage.
According to him the recent allegations regarding the financing of his children’s education have necessitated this response, saying that it is not because he fears scrutiny of his finances, which he said he welcomes, but “because the timing and nature of these claims demand context that only three decades of public service can provide”.
Tracing his career from his early days as a junior engineer in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in 1991 to his appointment as NMDPRA chief in 2021, Farouk emphasised his record of technical excellence and professional integrity.
Statement by the CEO of NMDPRA read in part:
“Recent allegations regarding the financing of my children’s education have necessitated this response—not because I fear scrutiny of my finances, which I welcome, but because the timing and nature of these claims demand context that only three decades of public service can provide.
Since 1991, I have dedicated my professional life to Nigeria’s petroleum sector, rising through merit and competence from a junior engineer in the Department of Petroleum Resources to my current position as Chief Executive of the NMDPRA.
This journey,spanning many administrations, economic cycles, and countless regulatory challenges,has been guided by a single unwavering principle:
The national interest of Nigeria transcends all personal considerations.
A Career Built on Technical Excellence
My entry into petroleum administration came through Nigeria’s competitive civil service examination, not political patronage.
I spent my formative years in the technical divisions,crude oil marketing, gas supply monitoring, and downstream operations
These are divisions ,where decisions are measured not by political expediency but by engineering precision and market realities.
By 2012, I had risen to General Manager of the Crude Oil Marketing Division, overseeing Nigeria’s most critical revenue stream during a period of unprecedented global oil price volatility.
Those years taught me that regulatory integrity is not merely about following rules, but about understanding that every decision affects millions of Nigerians who depend on affordable, reliable energy.
When I became Deputy Director in 2015, inheriting responsibility for downstream regulation amid fuel scarcity and pricing controversies, I learned that principled positions often create powerful opponents.
My appointment as NMDPRA Chief Executive in 2021 came with a clear mandate: implement the Petroleum Industry Act’s reforms with transparency and without favor.
I accepted this responsibility understanding its implications.
Reforming a sector characterized by decades of opacity, preferential licensing, and regulatory capture would necessarily antagonize entities whose business models depended on that very opacity.
The Education Question: Facts Over Innuendo
The allegation that I spent $5 million on my children’s Swiss secondary education is presented as evidence of corruption inconsistent with my official income.
This requires factual correction.
Three of my four children received substantial merit-based scholarships ranging from 40% to 65% of tuition costs,verifiable information are available to any authorized investigation.
My late father, a Northern Nigerian businessman who established education trust funds for his grandchildren before his 2018 passing, provided additional support consistent with our cultural traditions of collective family investment in education.
When scholarships, family contributions, and my own savings accumulated over three decades are properly accounted for, my personal financial obligation was entirely consistent with someone of my professional standing and length of service.
My annual compensation as NMDPRA CEO,approximately ₦48 million including all allowances,is publicly available in our audited reports.
Combined with legitimate savings from decades of federal employment, cooperative investments available to all civil servants, and family resources, funding my children’s education required neither corruption nor living beyond my means.
I have submitted detailed asset declarations to the Code of Conduct Bureau every year since entering public service. Every income source, investment, and significant expenditure is documented and available for scrutiny.
I hereby publicly authorize all educational institutions my children have attended to disclose financial records to authorized Nigerian government investigators, confident that such disclosure will reveal the substantial gap between allegation and reality.
As well it most be noted that schools abroad do not accepts fees that are not legitimately earned ,this is why in the Nigerian social media parlance,they call it saner climes.
Regulatory Independence and Its Discontents
These allegations resurface precisely when NMDPRA has enforced quality standards revealing substandard petroleum products in the market, implemented stricter licensing requirements, and insisted on transparent pricing mechanisms that eliminate opacity benefiting certain market players. This timing is not coincidental.
The characterization of NMDPRA’s Q1 2026 import licensing approvals as “economic sabotage” fundamentally misunderstands our statutory mandate.
Section 7 of the Petroleum Industry Act obligates us to ensure supply security and prevent scarcity. Granting import licenses when domestic supply proves insufficient is not sabotage,it is our legal duty.
A single-source supply model, regardless of ownership, creates dangerous vulnerabilities that no responsible regulator can ignore.
Since 2021, NMDPRA has published detailed monthly supply reports, established public data portals showing licensing and pricing information, and submitted to rigorous audits by international firms.
We have reduced fuel queues through improved supply chain management, implemented depot-to-station tracking to eliminate diversion, and enforced quality standards uniformly without favor or discrimination. These reforms have naturally created friction with entities whose business models depended on regulatory opacity and preferential treatment.
I make no apology for prioritizing Nigeria’s interests over individual commercial preferences.
This is precisely what regulatory independence requires and what my oath of office demands.
An Invitation to Investigation
I formally and publicly request the Code of Conduct Bureau to conduct comprehensive review of all my asset declarations since 1991, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to examine all my financial transactions and sources of income, and the National Assembly to exercise its oversight function regarding any allegations of regulatory compromise during my tenure.
I will cooperate fully, provide all documentation, and answer all questions under oath if required. My only stipulation is that investigations be genuine, professional, and free from predetermined conclusions driven by commercial interests seeking regulatory favor.
The Price of Principle
I did not pursue this office for personal enrichment. I accepted this responsibility because after three decades in Nigeria’s petroleum sector, I believed I understood both its potential and its pathologies well enough to contribute meaningfully to necessary reforms.
Those reforms,transparency in licensing, quality assurance, supply chain integrity, regulatory independence—have created winners and losers. Entities that previously benefited from opacity naturally resist change.
I understand this dynamic.
What I cannot accept is the weaponization of my family’s privacy and the distortion of facts to serve commercial agendas.
If the price of regulatory independence is personal attacks and manufactured scandals, I accept that price.
I will not be intimidated into abandoning statutory duties or granting preferential treatment to any entity, regardless of their economic power or media reach.
Conclusion
Three decades of service to Nigeria’s petroleum sector have taught me that integrity is tested not in comfortable moments but when powerful interests demand compromise. These allegations represent such a test.
My response is simple: investigate thoroughly, examine every claim, scrutinize every transaction. My record both financial and professional will withstand any legitimate inquiry.
The reforms we have implemented at NMDPRA serve Nigeria’s long-term interests even when they create short-term friction with powerful stakeholders. I remain committed to this mandate, confident that history will vindicate principled regulation over expedient accommodation.
Engr. Farouk Ahmed
Chief Executive Officer
Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.”
