Tinubu Meets CEO of NMDPRA At State House Amid Dangote’s Allegations of Sabotage, Corruption

Deji Elumoye in Abuja

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday evening met behind close-door with embattled Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, at the State House, Abuja.
The meeting took place against the backdrop of mounting allegations against the petroleum regulator Ahmed by renowned industrialist and President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
Ahmed who arrived the State House at about 5:30pm left the President’s first floor office in less than 30 minutes at about 5.55pm and refused to speak with newsmen as he exited the Villa offering no comment on the allegations or the outcome of his meeting with President Tinubu.
The Presidency and the NMDPRA were yet to issue an official statement on the allegations as of press time while the agenda and outcome of President Tinubu’s meeting with the NMDPRA chief were also not made public.
Ahmed and Mr Dangote, have in recent times been locked in a public dispute over Nigeria’s downstream petroleum regulation and the future of domestic refining.
Dangote had last Sunday accused the NMDPRA leadership, headed by Ahmed, of economic sabotage, alleging that regulatory actions were undermining local refining capacity in Nigeria.
Speaking at a news conference at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lekki, Lagos, Dangote claimed the continued issuance of import licences for petroleum products was frustrating domestic refiners and entrenching dependence on imports.
He further alleged that the NMDPRA was colluding with international traders and oil importers to the detriment of local operators, a charge the regulator has yet to publicly address.
The Africa’s richest man also raised personal allegations against the NMDPRA chief, claiming that Ahmed was living beyond his legitimate means.
He alleged that four of Ahmed’s children attend secondary schools in Switzerland at costs running into several millions of dollars, arguing that such expenditure raised questions about potential conflicts of interest and the integrity of regulatory oversight in the downstream petroleum sector.
On Monday, Dangote escalated the claims, accusing Ahmed of corruption and misappropriation of public funds, and providing estimates of the costs allegedly incurred on his children’s education abroad.
He claimed that about $5 million was spent on secondary education and upkeep over six years, with an additional $2 million on tertiary education, including an alleged $210,000 for a 2025 Harvard MBA programme for one of Mr Ahmed’s children.
The controversy deepened on Tuesday when Dangote, through his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), submitted a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), calling for Ahmed’s arrest, investigation and prosecution.
The petition, addressed to ICPC Chairman Musa Aliyu, alleged that Ahmed “spent without evidence of lawful means of income amounting to over $7 million for the education of his four children” in Switzerland, and reportedly included the names of the children, the schools attended and specific figures for verification.