Dangote Petitions ICPC, Accuses NMDPRA Boss  of Corruption, Abuses

Dangote Petitions ICPC, Accuses NMDPRA Boss  of Corruption, Abuses

President  of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has petitioned the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) over alleged corruption and financial impropriety by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Ahmed Farouk, prompting the anti-graft agency to announce an immediate investigation.

In the petition filed yesterday and addressed to the ICPC Chairman, Musa Adamu Aliyu (SAN), Dangote called for Farouk’s arrest, investigation and prosecution, alleging that the NMDPRA chief had lived far beyond his lawful earnings as a public servant.

Dangote alleged that Farouk spent over $7 million within six years on the education of his four children in different schools in Switzerland—an amount he said could not be justified by the official’s legitimate income. The petition reportedly listed the names of the children, their schools and the sums paid to enable the commission verify the claims.

According to Dangote, the NMDPRA boss also used his position to embezzle and divert public funds for personal gain, actions he said had contributed to protests and instability in the downstream petroleum sector. He argued that Farouk had spent his entire adult working life in public service, making the alleged expenditure a clear case of illicit enrichment.

“It is without doubt that the above facts in relation to abuse of office, breach of the Code of Conduct for public officers, corrupt enrichment and embezzlement constitute gross acts of corruption,” Dangote stated, citing Section 19 of the ICPC Act, which prescribes up to five years’ imprisonment without an option of fine upon conviction.

He urged the ICPC to act decisively, stressing that the matter was already in the public domain, and pledged to provide documentary evidence to support his claims. Dangote added that a thorough probe would help safeguard the image of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

Confirming receipt of the petition, ICPC spokesman, Mr. John Odey, said the commission had received a formal complaint from Dangote through his lawyer against the CEO of the NMDPRA and would investigate the allegations.

“The ICPC wishes to state that the petition will be duly investigated,” Odey said in a terse statement.

Dangote, however, clarified that he was not calling for Farouk’s removal but for accountability. “He should be required to account for his actions and demonstrate that he has not compromised his position to the detriment of Nigerians,” he said, also urging the Code of Conduct Bureau and other relevant agencies to wade into the matter.

Speaking earlier at a press conference at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, the business mogul accused the leadership of the NMDPRA of frustrating local refining through the continued issuance of petroleum product import licences despite rising domestic refining capacity. He claimed that licences covering about 7.5 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) had reportedly been issued for the first quarter of 2026, sustaining Nigeria’s dependence on imports and discouraging local investment.

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Dangote warned that continued importation of refined products was pushing modular refineries to the brink of collapse, while benefiting entrenched interests at the expense of national development.

On fuel pricing, he assured Nigerians of further relief, announcing that PMS would sell at no more than ₦740 per litre from Tuesday, starting in Lagos, following a reduction of the refinery’s gantry price to ₦699 per litre. He said MRS filling stations would be the first to reflect the new price.

He added that the refinery had reduced its minimum purchase requirements to accommodate more marketers and was ready to deploy its Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks nationwide to ensure affordability. Dangote also reiterated plans to list the Dangote Petroleum Refinery on the Nigerian Exchange to enable Nigerians to own shares.

“This refinery is for Nigerians first. I am not giving up,” he said.

As of the time of filing this report, the NMDPRA had yet to issue an official response to the allegations.