The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, has dismissed allegations linking the financing of his children’s overseas education to corrupt practices, describing the claims as misleading and ill-timed.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Ahmed said he welcomed scrutiny of his finances and formally invited anti-graft agencies to investigate his asset declarations and financial records, expressing confidence that his personal and professional conduct over three decades in public service would withstand examination.
The NMDPRA chief spoke amid heightened tension in the downstream petroleum sector following recent disputes involving fuel import licensing, quality enforcement, and accusations of regulatory bias.
While noting that he does not support monopoly control of premium motor spirit (PMS), Ahmed emphasized that investigations into allegations and counter-allegations involving industry players must be handled professionally by relevant authorities.
Ahmed traced his career to 1991, when he joined Nigeria’s petroleum administration through the civil service, rising from a junior engineer to head the sector’s downstream regulator.
He said his progression was based on merit and technical competence rather than political patronage, adding that his work across crude oil marketing, gas supply monitoring, and downstream operations shaped his commitment to regulatory integrity.
Addressing claims that he spent approximately $5 million on his children’s education in Switzerland, Ahmed said the figures were inaccurate and ignored verifiable facts.
According to him, three of his four children received merit-based scholarships covering between 40 and 65 percent of tuition costs, while additional funding came from education trust funds established by his late father before his death in 2018.
He added that his own contribution was drawn from legitimate earnings and savings accumulated over more than 30 years in public service.
Ahmed disclosed that his annual compensation as NMDPRA chief is approximately ₦48 million, including allowances, and said this information is contained in publicly available audited reports.
The regulator said he has consistently submitted asset declarations to the Code of Conduct Bureau since entering public service and has authorized educational institutions attended by his children to release relevant financial records to authorized investigators.
Ahmed also linked the resurgence of the allegations to recent regulatory actions by the NMDPRA, including the enforcement of fuel quality standards, tighter licensing requirements, and transparent pricing mechanisms. He said these measures disrupted entrenched interests that previously benefited from regulatory opacity.
Defending the issuance of fuel import licences, Ahmed said the Petroleum Industry Act mandates the NMDPRA to ensure supply security and prevent scarcity. He argued that relying on a single supply source for PMS, regardless of ownership, poses risks to national energy security.
Since 2021, he said the authority has published monthly supply reports, introduced depot-to-station tracking to curb diversion, reduced fuel queues, and subjected its operations to audits by international firms.
In the statement, Ahmed formally requested the Code of Conduct Bureau to review all his asset declarations, urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to examine his financial transactions, and called on the National Assembly to exercise its oversight powers.
He pledged full cooperation with any investigation, provided it is conducted objectively and without predetermined conclusions.
“I will not be intimidated into compromising regulatory independence or granting preferential treatment to any entity. My actions as regulator are guided solely by the national interest,” Ahmed stated.
He maintained that while reforms in the petroleum downstream sector may generate friction with powerful stakeholders, he remains committed to implementing the Petroleum Industry Act and upholding transparency, insisting that integrity and principled regulation would ultimately prevail.
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