Activists defy heavy rain, demand probe of NMDPRA CEO over $5M ‘corruption’
01 July 2025 at 16:38The protest follows the circulation of an explosive open letter addressed to the AGF and anti-corruption agencies.
Dozens of activists under the banner of Concerned Lawyers and Civil Rights Campaigners for Change defied torrential rain on Tuesday as they expanded their protest to the offices of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), demanding a full-scale probe into allegations of massive corruption against the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed.
The protesters, who began their sit-in last Monday with over 500 participants, have sustained their presence despite the harsh weather, saying the weight of the allegations and the damage to public confidence in regulatory institutions warrant immediate state action.
Their demands center on allegations that Engr. Ahmed diverted over $5 million in public funds to finance the private foreign education of his four children in some of the most expensive schools globally.
The protesters were chanting “No justice, no retreat”, “Probe Farouk Ahmed Now!”, “Public Office is Not a Family ATM,” and “Stop Using Our Oil Money for Private Luxury.”
Addressing journalists, the group’s leader, Comrade Istifanus Bawa, said their protest would continue indefinitely until President Bola Tinubu’s administration initiates transparent investigations and suspends Ahmed from office.
“We are here today, drenched by rain but fired up by conscience. The stench of corruption from the NMDPRA is unbearable. If the Attorney General, the ICPC, or the Code of Conduct Bureau refuse to act, then they become complicit in the cover-up of a scandal that disgraces every law-abiding Nigerian,” Bawa said.
The protest follows the release of a detailed open letter sent to the Attorney General of the Federation and anti-corruption agencies cataloguing a series of allegations against Engr. Farouk Ahmed.
The letter, which has gone viral online, accuses the NMDPRA boss of using illicit means to fund the foreign education of his children — Faisal, Farouk Jr., Ashraf, and Farhana — in elite Swiss schools and private universities, including Institut Le Rosey and Aiglon College, where annual fees run into six figures in U.S. dollars.
According to Bawa, the group has received “credible intelligence, including financial documents and whistleblower reports,” suggesting that these tuition payments were routed through third-party accounts, proxies, and laundered foreign exchange transfers designed to evade scrutiny.
“This is not some routine misappropriation of funds. We are talking about systemic theft, financial laundering, false asset declarations, and a potential quid pro quo between a regulator and oil companies that benefit from selective approvals. Engr. Farouk Ahmed cannot remain in office one more day if this government is serious about integrity,” Bawa said.
At the ICPC headquarters in Maitama, protesters barricaded the main entrance for several hours while chanting anti-corruption slogans. They also presented a petition demanding an immediate lifestyle audit of the NMDPRA CEO and a coordinated investigation involving the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the CCB, and international partners.
Civil rights lawyer Barr. Amaka John-Eze, who joined the protest Tuesday morning, said the legal community had a duty to resist “the normalisation of elite impunity.”
“Every time we allow a scandal like this to be swept under the carpet, we embolden the next thief,” she said.
“How do you explain to ordinary Nigerians that while their children are in strike-hit schools, the son of a public servant is being trained at Le Rosey — the school of European royals — using stolen money?”
The protesters also alleged that Faisal Ahmed, one of the children named in the tuition scandal, currently works at Oando PLC — a company regulated by the NMDPRA — raising suspicions of conflict of interest and potential backdoor favoritism.
“These allegations are not just about missing money. They are about broken institutions and compromised governance. If someone in charge of licensing and compliance can funnel public funds into private luxuries without oversight, then the PIA is dead on arrival,” Bawa added.
The group’s petition outlines several demands: the immediate suspension of Engr. Ahmed from office, forensic auditing of his personal and proxy bank accounts, a full-scale inquiry into all approvals signed under his leadership, and criminal prosecution under the ICPC Act, the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, and the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act.
“Our resolve is clear. We will not leave these gates until Farouk Ahmed is investigated, prosecuted if guilty, and made to repay every kobo stolen from the Nigerian people,” Bawa declared. (Daily Independent)
