RismadarVoice Reporters
January 8, 2026
Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has said it will continue its investigation into Engineer Farouk Ahmed, the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), despite the withdrawal of a petition earlier filed by billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote.
Dangote had, in a petition dated December 16, 2025, and submitted through his lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, urged the ICPC to investigate, prosecute and possibly arrest Ahmed over allegations of corruption and financial impropriety.
The petition alleged that Ahmed spent over $7 million on the education of his four children in Switzerland, reportedly paid upfront for a six-year period, without any lawful source of income to justify such expenditure. Dangote further accused the former NMDPRA boss of diverting public funds for personal gain through the agency, an action he claimed had fuelled public outrage and protests by civil society organisations.
According to the petition, Ahmed grossly abused his office in violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers, engaged in unlawful spending of public funds running into millions of dollars.
“That Engr. Farouk Ahmed spent, without evidence of lawful means of income, a humongous sum of over $7 million of public funds on the education of his four children in different schools in Switzerland for a period of six years upfront,” the petition stated.
However, the ICPC, in a statement issued on Wednesday by its spokesperson, John Odey, disclosed that the Commission received a letter dated January 5, 2026, from Dr. O.J. Onoja, SAN and Associates, legal counsel to Dangote, notifying it of the withdrawal of the petition in its entirety. The letter also indicated that another law enforcement agency had taken over the matter.
Odey said investigations had already commenced before the withdrawal, in line with Sections 3(14) and 27(3) of the ICPC Act.
“The ICPC wishes to state categorically that investigations in the interest of the Nigerian people and the Nigerian state have already commenced and are presently ongoing,” he said.
He added that the Commission would continue to investigate the matter in line with its statutory mandate, stressing that the withdrawal of the petition would not halt the process.
“The ICPC will therefore continue to investigate this matter in the interest of transparency, accountability and the fight against corruption for the benefit of Nigeria,” the statement added.
