$5m Scandal: NMDPRA CEO accused of fleeing Nigeria under guise of Hajj

Engr. Farouk Ahmed, the embattled Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), is facing a fresh controversy as reports claim he has fled Nigeria to evade arrest by anti-graft agencies.

According to a statement by the Coalition for Public Accountability (COPA), Ahmed left the country under the pretext of performing Hajj, but made a detour to a discreet location on an island in the United States.

The development comes amid mounting allegations of corruption, abuse of office, and unexplained foreign education expenses for his children, totalling over $5 million.

The group said Ahmed’s disappearance is a calculated attempt to avoid imminent prosecution following protests and petitions filed against him by civil society and legal advocacy groups.

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“We have received credible intelligence that Engr. Farouk Ahmed is not in Saudi Arabia or the UAE as publicly claimed. Instead, he is currently hiding on a private island in the United States,” the statement read.

“This escape was carefully staged to mislead authorities and frustrate ongoing investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC),” it added.

COPA President Comrade Ibrahim Adekunle, who signed the statement on Sunday, June 1, 2025, described Ahmed’s actions as a desperate flight from justice by a high-ranking public official who has abused the trust of the Nigerian people.

“This is not just a case of moral failure or financial mismanagement. We are talking about a coordinated abuse of public office to fund a luxury lifestyle and foreign education for his children in elite European schools, using mechanisms that appear to have involved financial proxies and undeclared accounts,” Adekunle said.

“His disappearance confirms our fears — that the man has no intention of facing justice and is exploiting diplomatic and procedural loopholes to escape the consequences of his actions.”

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Ahmed had previously come under intense scrutiny following mass protests and a detailed petition by the Concerned Lawyers Forum, which accused him of sponsoring the foreign education of four children through untraceable channels.

The petition alleged that the funds were inconsistent with his official earnings and that the transactions had not been declared in his asset filings.

The group also raised concerns about conflict of interest, pointing to Ahmed’s alleged influence over the employment of his son, Faisal, at Oando PLC, a company under NMDPRA’s regulatory oversight.

“What we see here is not only a breakdown of accountability but the willingness of a public servant to mislead the nation and compromise national institutions. Nigerians deserve transparency, not cover-ups,” Adekunle continued.

“We are calling on the EFCC, ICPC, and the CCB to immediately activate international extradition protocols to bring Farouk Ahmed back to Nigeria to face the law. No one should be above the law.”

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The group further urged the Nigerian government to liaise with Interpol and the U.S. Department of Justice to track Ahmed’s exact location and ensure that justice is served.

The group also demanded the immediate freezing of all bank accounts and assets linked to Ahmed and his close associates, pending the conclusion of investigations.