$5m school fees – Dangote blows whistle on NMDPRA boss Farouk Ahmed

By Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja

Founder and President/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has called for investigation of the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, to see if his spending matches his income.

Dangote has been at war with Ahmed over continued importation of petroleum products into the country.

While Dangote had insisted that his $20 billion refinery can meet the petroleum needs of Nigeria, the NMDPRA has continued to grant licenses to importers of petroleum products into Nigeria.

Dangote said the continued importation of petroleum product was allowed to undermine his refinery.

He also alleged that the petroleum products being imported into Nigeria are of low quality that can be sold cheaper than the production from his own refinery and therefore undercut him in the market.

On the contrary, NMDPRA has insisted that it will not allow Dangote to assume a monopolistic position in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

Whistleblower Dangote

But in what seemed escalation of the dispute between the two men, Dangote on Sunday blow the whistle on the NMDPRA chief, alleging that the money he was spending on the education of his children was far beyond his income as a public servant.

According to the billionaire businessman, Ahmed spent $5 million on secondary school education for his children in Switzerland.

He raised the red flag on Ahmed during a media briefing at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Fertiliser Plant, Lekki, Lagos, on Sunday.

He threatened to publish what the NMDPRA paid as tuition for his children in the secondary schools and to also take legal action to compel the schools to disclose how much he paid for the entire period if the allegation was denied.

“He should tell Nigerians which universities they attended and how much was paid there. People who have done something wrong must be prosecuted,” he said.

He said the humongous amount which covered six years of secondary education for four children of Ahmed was far above his income as a public servant

“I’ve had people actually complaining about a regulator who put his children in secondary school, and that secondary school education, which is six years, four of them cost Nigeria five million dollars.

“My children went to secondary school in Nigeria. They did not go outside Nigeria to attend secondary school,” Dangote said.

“This is a system where some of us are taxpayers. When people are complaining, we also complain, because when I pay tax, I want to see my money put to use, not stolen.

“I don’t know why the authority chief executive, Mallam Farouk, has four children educated in Switzerland at the cost of five million dollars for their secondary school education alone, not university,” he alleged.

Dangote said spending such a humungous sum by a public servant raised eyebrows about income declaration, conflicts of interest, and regulatory integrity in the downstream petroleum sector.

“The man must come and explain to Nigerians how he paid five million dollars for six years of his four children’s education.

“I don’t think any of you here has paid that kind of fees for your own children. We cannot allow this to continue, because we must make sure people do not come and destroy a country just because they want to make a living that is not genuine or legal,” he said.

Probe Him

Dangote further alleged that Ahmed is also spending the same amount on university education of his children.

“I know that one of them just finished Harvard. I want to see what kind of system we are operating where people are busy destroying a country and taking money from government, because their income does not match this kind of spending,” he said.

“Even if it were me paying five million dollars for six years for four children, the taxman would have to look at my taxes and ask how much I paid.”

Dangote called for investigation of Ahmed by relevant authorities and not just sacked.

“The Code of Conduct Bureau, or any other body deemed appropriate by the government, should investigate the matter. Let them see whether his income matches the five million dollars paid as school fees for six years for four children. This is without tickets.

“He does not need to be sacked. Let him come and clear that he has not compromised his positions in government at the cost of Nigerians,” he said.

The CEO contrasted the allegation with the struggles of ordinary Nigerians.

“From where he comes from, people are struggling to pay ₦100,000 for secondary school fees. Many children are at home because their parents cannot afford that amount.

“I cannot understand why someone who has worked all his life in government would have four children whose secondary school fees alone cost five million dollars,” he said.