PRESIDENT of Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, has filed a petition against Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr Ahmed Farouk, to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, accusing him of corruption.
In the petition, dated and submitted on December 16 through his lawyer, Mr Ogwu Onoja (SAN), Mr Dangote asked the 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.
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.”
Africa’s richest man alleged that Mr Ahmed had spent his entire adult working life in the Nigerian public sector, wondering how he could have accumulated funds close to the alleged $7 million used to finance his children’s education abroad.
“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 are gross acts of corrupt practices for which your Commission is statutorily empowered under Section 19 of the ICPC Act to investigate and prosecute,” Dangote further alleged.
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The oil mogul claimed that Ahmed had corruptly enriched himself with taxpayers’ money meant for public consumption and diverted it into private uses.
“Any Public officer who uses his office or position to gratify or confer any corrupt or unfair advantage upon himself or any relation or associate of the public officer or any other public officer shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to imprisonment for five(5) years without option of fine,” he noted, stating that a successful prosecution under the same provision of the law attracted a prison term of 5 years without an option of fine.
Dangote’s allegations
Barely 17 months after Mr Ahmed had accused Mr Dangote of producing substandard petrol, the businessman has come up with serious allegations against him, accusing him of graft.
On Monday night, Mr Dangote released more details of Mr Ahmed’s 4 children’s secondary school fees abroad, saying that at the end of six years, the civil servant will have spent $12.8 million just on school fees.
He named Mr Ahmed’s children and schools as Falsal Farouk, Montreux; Farouk Jr, Algion Collage; Ashraf Farouk, Institute La Rosey; and Farhana Farouk, La Garenne International School. The duration of the secondary school education for the 4 children, according to Mr Dangote, is 6 years.
“Nigerians deserve to know the sources of these sums of money paid by a public officer while many parents in his home state of Sokoto cannot afford to pay N10,000 school fees for their children and wards,” Mr Dangote said.
“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,” Mr Dangote alleged.
