Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over alleged acts of corruption and abuse of office by the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed.
The petition, filed through Dangote’s legal team, was submitted to the EFCC headquarters in Abuja, according to a statement released on Friday by the Dangote Group media office.
The move comes days after Dangote withdrew a similar petition earlier submitted to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, which had announced that it would continue its investigation despite the withdrawal.
According to the statement, the decision to approach the EFCC was strategic.
“The withdrawal of the petition from the ICPC was aimed at accelerating the prosecution process by engaging an agency with a core mandate to investigate and prosecute financial crimes,” the statement said.
In the petition signed by Lead Counsel, Dr O.J. Onoja, Dangote urged the EFCC to investigate allegations of corrupt enrichment and abuse of office against Ahmed and to initiate prosecution if the claims are substantiated.
“We respectfully request the commission to investigate the complaint of abuse of office and corruption against Engr. Farouk Ahmed and to prosecute him accordingly if found culpable,” Onoja stated.
The petition further noted that Dangote was prepared to present evidence to support the allegations, including claims of financial misconduct and impunity while Ahmed was in office.
“We make bold to state that the commission is strategically positioned, along with sister agencies, to prosecute financial crimes and corruption-related offences,” the petition read, citing judicial precedents to underscore the courts’ readiness to punish offenders once a prima facie case is established.
Dangote had earlier accused the former NMDPRA boss of allegedly spending about $5 million on his children’s secondary education in Switzerland, an allegation that triggered the initial ICPC petition.
As of the time of filing this report, Ahmed has yet to publicly respond to the allegations.
