NIGERIANS are asking for a full investigation into the tenure of the ex-Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Ahmed Farouk.

Mr Ahmed resigned on Wednesday following corruption allegations from Africa’s richest man, Mr Aliko Dangote, who accused him of paying the school fees four of his children in Switzerland at costs running into several million dollars.

Mr Dangote had also accused the NMDPRA chief of colluding with international traders and oil importers to frustrate local refining through the continued issuance of import licences for petroleum products.

“He should be required to account for his actions and demonstrate that he has not compromised his position to the detriment of Nigerians. What is happening amounts to economic sabotage,” Mr Dangote said, noting that a public servant could not ordinarily afford to spend over $5 million on children’s school fees without being corrupt.

On Tuesday, he filed a petition against Mr Ahmed, accusing him of corruption. In the petition, dated and submitted on December 16 through his lawyer, Mr Ogwu Onoja (SAN), Mr Dangote asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to arrest, investigate and prosecute Mr Ahmed for living far beyond his legitimate means as a public servant and paying $7 million for his children’s school fees abroad.

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The petition, which was acknowledged by ICPC Chairman, Mr Musa Aliyu (SAN), read: “That Engr Farouk Ahmed has grossly abused his office contrary to the extant provisions of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers and, in doing enmeshed himself in monumental corruption and unlawful spending of Public funds running into millions of dollars.

“That Engr Farouk Ahmed spent without evidence of lawful means of income humongous amount of money of over 7 million dollars of Public funds, for the education of his four children in different schools in Switzerland for a period of six years upfront.”

“The Code of Conduct Bureau, or any other body deemed appropriate by the government, can investigate the matter. If he denies it, I will not only publish what he paid as tuition in those secondary schools, but I will also take legal steps to compel the schools to disclose the payments made by Farouk.

“I sent my own children to secondary schools here in Nigeria. How many Nigerians can afford to pay $5 million for secondary school tuition, not university education? In his home state of Sokoto, many parents are struggling to pay as little as N10,000 in school fees,” Dangote alleged.

Calls for probe grow

Nigerians have called for the probe of the ex-MNDPRA boss, saying that resigning from his position isn’t enough, given the weighty nature of Mr Dangote’s allegations.

According to a lawyer, Mr Dubem Onyiauke, the Economic the ICPC must now proceed with investigating Mr Ahmed.

“If you watch the way the whole situation has gone, you will notice that something seems fishy. The MD of NMDPRA was accused of paying more than $5 million for his four children. Dangote presented evidence to prove his point. Rather than defend himself, Ahmed denied statements that were even meant to defend his records.

“The next story is that he has resigned. Is he admitting that he actually committed those crimes alleged by Dangote? Well, that is where the EFCC and the ICPC come in. They must show that they are not protecting this person by investigating fully his activities in office? Was he issuing those import licenses to destroy local petrol production? If he actually paid N5 million in Switzerland for his children, how did he make the money? ” he asked.

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An anti-corruption crusader, Ms Jewel Uwadie, noted that the lack of defence by the ex-NMDPRA CEO to even defend himself was suspicious. “If someone makes serious allegations like these against me, I will defend myself and provide evidence that the other party is wrong. But, in this case, Ahmed was deliberately silent. In my culture, when you keep silent in the face of allegations, people tend to believe you are guilty. I am not saying he is guilty, but he hasn’t shown us that Dangote is wrong, which explains why I want the ICPC to take this matter seriously,” she said, stressing that the ex-NMDPRA boss should have his day in court if the anti-graft agencies found evidence against him.

A Kaduna-based pastor, Rev Sanuel Adisa, said: “Why these things happen often is that some of the government agencies do not have boards. When you don’t have a board, the CEO and other staff members tend to behanve the way they like. So, I will first encourage the ICPC to update Nigerians of every step it takes, while I urge the president to provide boards for all government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).”