NMDPRA BOSS FAROUK AHMED DEFENDS CHILDREN’S EDUCATION, SAYS INCOME, SCHOLARSHIPS, FAMILY TRUST COVERED COSTS
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed, has dismissed allegations that he spent about $5 million on his children’s education abroad, describing the claims as misleading and lacking factual basis.
In a statement issued on December 16, 2025, Ahmed said the allegations were deliberately timed to undermine regulatory reforms being implemented by the Authority and insisted that his finances were transparent and consistent with his income and years of public service.
Ahmed disclosed that he earns approximately ₦48 million annually as NMDPRA chief executive, including allowances, adding that the figure is publicly available in audited government reports. He explained that three of his four children benefited from merit-based scholarships covering between 40 and 65 per cent of tuition costs at their schools, while additional support came from an education trust established by his late father for his grandchildren.
“My late father, a Northern Nigerian businessman, set up education trust funds for his grandchildren before his passing in 2018. This, combined with scholarships and my personal savings accumulated over more than three decades of service, fully explains the funding of my children’s education,” Ahmed said.
He stressed that he has consistently submitted asset declarations to the Code of Conduct Bureau since joining public service in 1991 and maintained that none of his expenditures exceeded his legitimate earnings. Ahmed further invited scrutiny, authorising educational institutions attended by his children to release financial records to investigators.
“I welcome investigation. I have nothing to hide,” he said, while requesting the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and the National Assembly to independently examine his assets, income, and transactions.
Tracing his career progression, Ahmed said he joined the petroleum sector through competitive civil service examinations, rising from a junior engineer in the Department of Petroleum Resources to General Manager of the Crude Oil Marketing Division in 2012, Deputy Director in 2015, and eventually NMDPRA CEO in 2021. He noted that his career spanned multiple administrations and was anchored on technical competence rather than political patronage.
Addressing criticisms of NMDPRA’s regulatory decisions, Ahmed said recent enforcement actions such as stricter import licensing, quality checks that exposed substandard petroleum products, and transparent pricing mechanisms had disrupted entrenched interests that thrived on regulatory opacity.
He rejected claims that the Authority’s approval of fuel import licences amounted to “economic sabotage,” insisting that the Petroleum Industry Act mandates NMDPRA to ensure supply security and prevent fuel scarcity.
“A single-source supply model creates dangerous vulnerabilities. Granting import licences when domestic supply is insufficient is not sabotage; it is our statutory duty,” he said.
Ahmed added that since 2021, the Authority has published monthly supply reports, launched public data portals, enforced depot-to-station tracking, and subjected its operations to audits by international firms, reforms he said inevitably generated resistance from affected market players.
He concluded that personal attacks would not deter him from enforcing regulatory independence and prioritising Nigeria’s national interest.
“If the price of principled regulation is manufactured scandals and personal attacks, I accept that price,” Ahmed said, reaffirming his commitment to transparency and sectoral reform.
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