Protest rocks Abuja as pressure mounts on Tinubu to sack NMDPRA boss

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President Bola Tinubu has been urged to sack Engineer Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The coalition of lawyers and civil society groups made this demand during a protest at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday, May 26, over allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds.

The protesters, under the banner of Concerned Lawyers and Civil Society in Defence of Public Trust, accused Ahmed of diverting public funds to finance the foreign education of his children at elite Swiss institutions, including Aiglon College and Institut Le Rosey, where tuition can exceed N300 million annually.

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“This protest is about justice,” said Barrister Martins Adaji, one of the protest leaders.

“We are done clapping for thieves. Engr. Farouk Ahmed must step down NOW. He must return every kobo spent on his children’s foreign education and face the full weight of the law.”

The group claimed that Faisal Ahmed, one of Farouk’s sons, was funded with public money to attend the European University in Montreux before landing a lucrative job at Oando, a company with oil sector ties.

Another son, Farouk Jr., was allegedly schooled at the exclusive Aiglon College.

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Protesters are also calling for a comprehensive audit of the NMDPRA’s finances and prosecution of Ahmed under the Public Procurement Act and Code of Conduct guidelines.

They demanded that any recovered funds be redirected to rebuild dilapidated schools in oil-producing communities.

“If our demands are ignored,” Adaji warned, “we will return stronger, louder, and more resolute.”