Dangote escalates dispute with Nigerian oil regulator, demands corruption probe
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Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote intensified his dispute with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), publicly accusing its chief executive Farouk Ahmed of corruption and calling for a formal probe by the Code of Conduct Bureau. Speaking at a December 14 media briefing at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, Dangote alleged that Ahmed’s reported $5 million expenditure on school fees for four children in Switzerland was inconsistent with his public-sector earnings.
Dangote claimed the regulator’s approval of cut‑price fuel imports undermined domestic refining operations and discouraged private investment in Nigeria’s downstream sector. The remarks follow Ahmed’s earlier comments that the Dangote Refinery seeks to dominate domestic fuel sales while overall national capacity remains insufficient to meet demand.
The NMDPRA recently advised postponing a 2025 fuel‑import ban, citing daily national consumption of 55 million litres—an amount it said exceeded current local supply. Dangote disputed those figures, arguing they reflected offtake volumes rather than production rates, and disclosed that his refinery continues to import around 100 million barrels of crude oil annually due to limited domestic allocations.
The dispute has sharpened a long‑running standoff over Nigeria’s refinery utilization, fuel supply balance, and regulatory direction as Dangote’s new $20 billion refinery seeks a leading role in the country’s energy market.
