Dare Babalola
The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, on Sunday alleged that the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, paid about $5 million for the secondary school education of his four children in Switzerland, calling for a full investigation and public explanation.
Speaking during a press briefing at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, Dangote said Ahmed should publicly explain how such an amount was funded, given his position as a public official.
He urged relevant authorities, including the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal, to investigate the matter, describing the allegation as one that raises serious concerns about accountability and economic sabotage.
Dangote recalled that similar allegations were made in July, when a group accused Ahmed of spending over $5.5 million on foreign education for his children. At the time, the NMDPRA dismissed the claims, describing them as false and part of an orchestrated smear campaign against its leadership.
Revisiting the issue, Dangote said the alleged expenditure was difficult to reconcile with earnings from public service and would ordinarily attract scrutiny from tax authorities.
He said, “I’ve actually had people making complaints about a regulator who has actually put his children in secondary school.
“And that secondary school education, which is six years, four of them cost Nigeria $5m. I mean, you cannot imagine somebody paying $5m for educating four children.”
“When you look at his income, his income does not match paying this kind of fee,” he said, adding that even private individuals who make such payments would be expected to account for the source of funds.
He also contrasted the alleged spending with the hardship faced by many Nigerians who struggle to pay modest school fees, noting that thousands of children are out of school due to financial constraints.
