Anti-Graft Agency Urged To Act Fast On Petition Against Farouk Ahmed

A civil society organisation, the Empowerment for Unemployed Youth Initiative (EUYI), has asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to, without further delay, investigate the corruption allegations levelled against the former chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed.

But, in a letter dated December 17, 2025, Comrades Danesi Momoh Prince, Igwe Ude-Umanta, Olumide Odumos, and Olayinka Dada, addressed to the chairmen of ICPC and EFCC in Abuja, on behalf of the group, described the allegations as being of “strong public interest” and asked the ICPC to invite Ahmed for questioning.

Their letter followed claims by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the president of Dangote Group, that Ahmed had spent over $5 million on the education of four of his children in secondary schools in Switzerland.

The group said Dangote claimed to possess “incontrovertible and empirical evidence” to support the allegation and challenged Ahmed to deny it.

It noted that more than 48 hours after the allegation surfaced, and over 24 hours after a formal petition was submitted to the ICPC and made public, there had been no denial from the NMDPRA chief.

The group expressed concern over the implications of the allegation, particularly against the backdrop of widespread poverty and unemployment in the country. They added that, at the prevailing foreign exchange rate, the alleged sum of $5 million translates to over ₦7.2 billion, describing it as “deeply disturbing” if true.

“The commission owes this country, which is bleeding from corruption, an urgent duty to invite Engr. Farouk Ahmed to explain how he became wealthy enough to expend such an amount on secondary school education,” Momoh said.

While stressing that his group’s letter was not intended to cast doubt on the ICPC’s commitment to fighting corruption, Momoh said it was meant to underscore the urgency of the matter and the high level of public interest it has generated.