Africa’s richest man and President of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote, has called out the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, questioning how he was able to afford whopping $5 million (N7.5 billion) for the secondary school education of his four children in Switzerland.
Calling for Ahmed’s probe, Dangote insisted that Ahmed must appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) to explain to Nigerians how he raised the $5m for his children’s school fees, stressing that his own children did not go outside Nigeria to attend secondary school.
Dangote, who spoke at a press conference at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, said Ahmed’s high-profile lifestyle cannot be reconciled with his public service income and therefore linked it to alleged corruption in the downstream petroleum sector.
He contended that if left unanswered, the allegation would continue to undermine public trust and investor confidence.
“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”, he stated.
Positing that such a situation would ordinarily attract scrutiny from tax authorities, Dangote further argued that “When you look at his income, his income does not match paying this kind of fee. And even if it’s me paying $5m for six years for my four children, the taxman has to look at my taxes and how much I pay”.
He said he was particularly troubled by the contrast between the alleged expenditure and the hardship faced by ordinary Nigerians.
According to him, “From Sokoto, where he comes from, people are struggling to pay N100,000 for school fees. A lot of children are at home, not going to school, because of N100,000. I cannot understand why somebody who has worked all his life in government, and he has four children whose school fees he has paid $5m for.
“Even my own children, they didn’t go to those schools. My children went to a Nigerian secondary school. They didn’t go outside Nigeria to attend secondary school.
“I am not calling for his removal, but for 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.
“The Code of Conduct Bureau, or any other body deemed appropriate by the government, can investigate the matter. If he denies it, I will not only publish what he 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.”
Describing the downstream petroleum sector as being under severe strain, the billionaire business mogul alleged the presence of entrenched interests that profit from fuel imports at the expense of national development.
Dangote declared that “There are powerful interests in the oil sector. It is troubling that African countries continue to import refined products despite long-standing calls for value addition and domestic refining. The volume of imports being allowed into the country is unethical and does a disservice to Nigeria”.
Underscoring the the need for a clear separation between regulatory oversight and commercial interests, Dangote warned that allowing traders to influence regulation would undermine the integrity of the sector, maintaining that “The downstream sector must not be destroyed by personal interests. A trader should never be a regulator. Forty-seven licences have been issued, yet no new refineries are being built because the environment is not conducive”
Dangote was however believed that Nigerians would ultimately benefit from local refining, even as fuel importers incur losses, vowing that he would not relent in ensuring that Nigerians enjoy the benefits of domestic refining.
He said the company was working around the clock to ensure that recent reductions in the gantry price were fully reflected at the retail level.