James Adamu
Aliko Dangote has intensified his feud with Nigeria’s oil sector regulator, making fresh and specific allegations that its chief executive, Farouk , funded millions of dollars in lavish foreign education for his children, far beyond the means of a public servant.
Moving beyond his initial accusations of “economic sabotage,” Dangote now claims Ahmed financed a multi-million dollar overseas education for his four children at elite institutions in Switzerland and the United States, raising severe questions about the source of the funds and the regulator’s integrity.
The allegations were detailed in a statement issued by Dangote on Monday, following a press conference the previous day where he first accused the NMDPRA leadership of colluding with importers to undermine local refining.
According to Dangote’s breakdown, the four children—Faisal Farouk, Farouk Jr., Ashraf Farouk, and Farhana Farouk—each attended prestigious Swiss secondary schools, including Institut Le Rosey and Aiglon College, for six years. Dangote alleged that the “approximate total fees for tuition and upkeep” for their secondary education alone amounted to $5,000,000.
The industrialist did not stop there. He further claimed Ahmed spent an additional $2,000,000 on tertiary education for the four children over four years, and a separate $210,000 specifically for his son Faisal’s 2025 Harvard MBA programme.
“Nigerians deserve to know the source(s) 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,” Dangote stated pointedly in his release, contrasting the alleged expenditure with widespread economic hardship.
These detailed allegations mark a significant personalisation and intensification of the conflict that began with Dangote’s refinery slashing fuel prices, triggering a price war with importers. Dangote’s core business accusation is that the NMDPRA, under Ahmed’s leadership, is sabotaging Nigeria’s move towards energy self-sufficiency by “continued issuance of import licences for petroleum products” despite sufficient local refining capacity.
The House of Representatives Joint Committees on Petroleum Resources had earlier summoned both parties on Sunday, calling for an immediate halt to public altercations to prevent destabilising the petroleum sector. However, Dangote’s latest statement indicates a refusal to de-escalate.
The unfolding scandal now places the focus squarely on the lifestyle and financial conduct of a top regulator, intertwining a bitter commercial dispute with serious allegations of corruption and abuse of office, setting the stage for a tense political and investigative showdown.
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