‘$5m on school fees’: Dangote releases details of allegation against NMDPRA boss

The President of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote, has released details backing his earlier allegation questioning how Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), was able to finance the secondary school education of his children abroad, which he claimed amounted to about $5 million.

 

In a newspaper advert published on Tuesday, Dangote said the amount covered school fees and related costs for four of Ahmed’s children over six years in Switzerland.

 

The advert followed Dangote’s allegation on Monday that Ahmed Farouk “paid $5 million” to a Swiss secondary school for his children’s education, saying he wants the NMDPRA investigated on the alleged compromise in regulatory agency’s leadership against the interest of Nigerians.

 

In the publication, Dangote named the children as Faisal Farouk, Farouk Jr., Ashraf Farouk, and Farhana Farouk.

 

He also listed the schools they reportedly attended within the six years as Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institut Le Rosey, and La Garenne International School.

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According to Dangote, who is also the owner of the 650,000bpd Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals, the estimates included tuition, living expenses, air travel, and general upkeep, calculated for four children across several years.

 

He stated that the annual cost of tuition, airfare, and upkeep per child was $200,000, bringing the total to $800,000 per year for all four children.

 

Dangote further claimed that living expenses and air tickets per child over six years amounted to $1.2 million, which totals $4.8 million for the four children.

 

Based on these figures, he estimated that the combined cost of tuition and upkeep reached about $5 million.

 

Dangote also outlined the alleged cost of the children’s tertiary education, saying tuition, upkeep, airfare, and other expenses averaged $125,000 per year over four years.

 

He said this amounts to $500,000 per child and a total of $2 million for the four children.

 

“Faisal just finished 2025 Harvard MBA at $150,000 and $60,000 for upkeep, tickets and other incidentals. Total =$210,000 spent in 2025 for Faisal’s MBA,” he added.

 

Dangote said Nigerians deserve to know the source of funds “paid by a public officer, while many parents in his home state of Sokoto cannot afford to pay N10,000 school fees for their children and wards.”

 

While Tribune Online could not independently confirm these claims, neither Farouk Ahmed nor NMDPRA has issued any official statement responding to the allegation from Dangote as of the time of filing this report.