Dangote Releases Details Alleging NMDPRA Boss Farouk Ahmed Spent $5million On Children’s Swiss Education

The allegations were contained in a circular sighted by SaharaReporters, signed by Dangote, under the heading “ALLEGATION,” and addressed directly to the NMDPRA boss.

Billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, has released details alleging that the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, spent over $5 million on the foreign secondary education of his four children in Switzerland.

The allegations were contained in a circular sighted by SaharaReporters, signed by Dangote, under the heading “ALLEGATION,” and addressed directly to the NMDPRA boss.

In the document, Dangote alleged that Farouk Ahmed “spent over $5 million on his four children’s foreign secondary education in Switzerland,” listing the names of the children as Faisal Farouk, Farouk Jr., Ashraf Farouk and Farhana Farouk.

The circular further listed the secondary schools allegedly attended by the children as Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institute Le Rosey and La Garenne International School. According to the document, each child reportedly spent six years at the respective institutions.

Breaking down the estimated costs, the circular claimed that “Annual Tuition, Air tickets and upkeep per child – $200,000 by 4 is $800,000,” while “Total living expenses per child and Air tickets for 6 years = $1,200,000 by 4 children – $4,800,000.”

It added that the “Approximate Total Fees for Tuition and Upkeep” amounted to “$5,000,000.”

Dangote also raised questions about the cost of the children’s tertiary education, stating that “Tuition, upkeep, Air Tickets and other expenses is Approximately $125,000 per annum by 4 years $500,000 x 4 children = $2,000,000.”

The circular singled out one of the children, Faisal Farouk, alleging that he “just finished 2025 Harvard MBA at $150,000 and $60,000 for upkeep, tickets and other incidentals,” with a “TOTAL = $210,000 spent in 2025 for Faisal’s MBA.”

Emphasising the gravity of the claims, Dangote declared in the document: “FACTS DON’T LIE!”

He further argued that the Nigerian public deserved transparency, stating: “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.”

The circular was signed simply: “Signed: Aliko Dangote.”

Dangote had also launched a blistering public attack on the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed.

Dangote accused Farouk of sabotaging Nigeria’s economy and threatening to expose what he described as questionable foreign education expenses allegedly incurred by the regulator’s children.

Dangote, speaking during a recent public engagement, accused Ahmed of deliberately undermining local production, likening the actions of the NMDPRA boss to economic sabotage aimed at crippling domestic investors.

Using a bakery analogy to explain his claims, Dangote said,

“If now you have a bakery and I have your template, I know that your cost is ₦1,000 and I’m coming to sell that bread in front of your bakery at ₦800, what does that mean? Are you paying for me or are you sabotaging me? So that is sabotage.”

According to Dangote, such actions mirror what he alleged is happening in Nigeria’s oil and gas downstream sector, where regulatory decisions are, in his view, structured to frustrate local refining and investment.

“The key message is that I think we are allowing Farouk to destroy the economy of Nigeria,” Dangote said bluntly. “And I think we should not allow him to continue sabotaging and destroying the economy of Nigeria.”

The billionaire industrialist insisted that Nigeria must protect its strategic assets, particularly the Dangote Refinery, regardless of short-term losses, stressing that shutting down such a massive facility would be disastrous.

“Even if Farouk will be there for the next 100 years, we cannot close this refinery. Even at a loss, we have to continue to run the refinery. It’s too big,” he said.

Drawing parallels with the aviation industry, Dangote added, “Have you ever seen an airline that’s losing money that will go and just shut down? They won’t shut down. They will continue struggling, praying for a better day to come. That better day will come.”

Beyond policy disagreements, Dangote escalated the confrontation by calling for Farouk Ahmed to be investigated by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), alleging that the regulator’s lifestyle and expenditures raise serious questions.

“He has to be charged to the Code of Conduct Bureau,” Dangote said. “Because they have his returns. He must have filed what he owns, and he needs to explain, because he’s been working for government all his life.”

Dangote specifically questioned how a lifelong public servant could afford what he claimed were multi-million-dollar education costs for his children abroad.

“I will not be able to afford sending four of my children to a secondary school, not university, secondary school, to Switzerland at $5 million for six full years,” Dangote said.

He further alleged that one of Ahmed’s children recently graduated from Harvard University, claiming that tuition alone cost $150,000.

“I know that one of them just finished Harvard, and tuition alone, he paid $150,000,” Dangote stated.

The industrialist warned that if Ahmed denies the allegations, he would personally publish details of the schools attended and the fees paid, including taking legal action against the institutions to compel disclosure.

“So when he denies it, and I know it will be the major headline tomorrow, I will publish, with my name, saying these are the schools they attended,” Dangote said.

“As a matter of fact, I will sue those schools to publish how much fees he has paid for all the time they were there.”

Dangote added that he would also demand disclosure of the universities attended by Ahmed’s children and the total cost of their education abroad.