President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has asked the Senate to approve the nominations of new chief executives for Nigeriaโs two key oil and gas regulatory agencies following the resignation of their current heads.
In a State House press release issued on Wednesday, the President said he had forwarded the names of the nominees to the upper legislative chamber after Engineer Farouk Ahmed of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Gbenga Komolafe of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) stepped down from office.
Ahmed, accusing him of living far above his legitimate means as a public servant.
According to the petition, Ahmed allegedly spent over $7 million on the education of his four children in Switzerland, paying school fees upfront for six years.
The businessman noted that the amount could not be justified by the total earnings of a career public servant.
The businessman reportedly named the four children, their schools and the specific sums paid for each of them, urging the anti-graft agency to verify the claims and establish what he described as โclear evidence of corrupt enrichment.โ
Dangote further alleged that the NMDPRA chief abused his office by diverting public funds for personal use, accusing him of deploying the regulatory authority as an instrument for embezzlement and the pursuit of private interests to the detriment of Nigerians.
He claimed that the alleged misconduct by Ahmed had triggered recent public outrage and protests by different groups across the country.
The businessman insisted that Ahmedโs lifetime earnings in public service could not lawfully account for such expenditure, alleging that the funds used to educate his children abroad were diverted from public coffers.
He urged the ICPC to act decisively under Section 19 of the ICPC Act, noting that the law prescribes a five-year jail term without an option of fine for such offences.
Dangote said he was prepared to personally appear before investigators to provide documentary and other evidence to substantiate his allegations against the NMDPRA boss.
The allegations were first made public by Dangote during a media interaction at the Dangote Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, on Sunday, where he questioned Ahmedโs source of wealth and accused the regulator of frustrating local refining efforts through the continued issuance of fuel import licences.
