The embattled Authority Chief Executive of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Farouk Ahmed has distanced himself from a response given in his name to the very damaging allegations against him by billionaire businessman and President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote.
In a statement of DISCLAIMER/CLARIFICATION, on Wednesday December 17, 2025, Farouk, an engineer, said the response did not come from him.
Newsmata.com.ng reports that Dangote had at a press conference on Monday, alleged that Ahmed “paid $5 million” to a Swiss secondary school for his children’s education, describing the act as “economic sabotage and corruption”.
Buttressing his allegations, Dangote, in newspaper adverts on Tuesday, listed the four children as Faisal Farouk, Farouk Jr., Ashraf Farouk, and Farhana Farouk. The advertorials were followed with a formal petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) complaining of alleged corruption and financial impropriety.
The petition, dated December 16, 2025, was submitted through his lawyer, Dr. Ogwu James Onoja, senior advocate of Nigeria, (SAN) and received at the office of the ICPC Chairman, Dr. Musa Adamu Aliyu, SAN.
Dangote, whose refinery had been having a running battle with Farouk’s (NMDPRA, therefore called for the arrest, investigation and prosecution of the NMDPRA boss, alleging that Farouk had been living far above his legitimate means as a public servant.
But in a widely publicised response Tuesday evening which has now been disowned, Ahmed purportedly said in a statement in Abuja, titled “A Question of Integrity”, that the allegations were a deliberate attempt to smear his reputation and undermine the independence of the NMDPRA.
The purported statement said, “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”.
Part of the statement, reportedly personally signed by Ahmed, further read: “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”.
In a dramatic twist, in a disclaimer he personally issued on Wednesday, the NMDPRA boss said:
“My attention has been drawn to a purported response I was said to have made on the recent allegations against my person.
“I hereby state categorically that the so-called statement did not emanate from me.
“While I am aware of the wild and spurious allegations made against me and my family and the frenzy it has generated, as a regulator of a sensitive industry, I have opted not to engage in public brickbat.
“Thankfully, the person behind the allegations has taken it to a formal investigative institution.
“I believe that would provide an opportunity to dispassionately distill the issues and to clear my name.”
