Breaking: NMDPRA, NUPRC Chiefs Step Down Amid Corruption Allegations

Breaking: NMDPRA, NUPRC Chiefs Step Down Amid Corruption Allegations

The Nigerian energy landscape experienced a seismic shift on Wednesday as the NMDPRA, NUPRC Chiefs, Engineer Farouk Ahmed and Engineer Gbenga Komolafe, formally resigned from their positions. This high-profile exit follows a week of intense public scrutiny triggered by a detailed corruption petition filed by billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote. The resignation of the two most powerful regulators in the petroleum sector marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing “petrol war,” occurring just hours after Farouk Ahmed was summoned to a closed door meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa.

The catalyst for this regulatory collapse was a scathing petition submitted to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Code of Conduct Bureau. In the documents, Dangote alleged that the leadership of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, was engaged in systemic economic sabotage designed to favor fuel importers over local refining capacity. Most explosive, however, were the personal financial allegations. The petition claimed that Farouk Ahmed paid approximately $5 million upfront for the secondary education of each of his four children, Faisal, Farouk Jr., Ashraf, and Farhana, at prestigious Swiss boarding schools.

These elite institutions, which include the Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institut Le Rosey, and La Garenne International School, reportedly received payments totaling over $20 million for the children’s six year secondary programs. Dangote argued that such expenditures are impossible to reconcile with the official earnings of a career public servant, suggesting that the funds were diverted from public coffers. While the former regulator dismissed the claims as “wild and spurious” before his departure, the weight of the allegations and the ensuing public outcry made his continued leadership untenable.

READ ALSO: Dangote Calls for Federal Probe of NMDPRA Chief Farouk

While the NUPRC Chief, Gbenga Komolafe, was not the primary target of the school fees scandal, his simultaneous exit signals a broader federal desire for a clean sweep of the regulatory framework established under the Petroleum Industry Act. To fill the sudden leadership vacuum, President Tinubu has forwarded the names of two seasoned veterans to the Senate for expedited confirmation. Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed has been tapped to lead the NMDPRA, while Oritsemeyiwa Amanorisewo Eyesan is set to take the helm at the NUPRC. This transition is seen as a strategic attempt to restore investor confidence and stabilize a sector currently defined by pricing volatility and regulatory disputes. For more information, I recommend Songbux.