President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday announced the resignations of the heads of the country’s two key petroleum regulatory bodies.
Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and Gbenga Komolafe, head of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), both stepped down just days after industrialist Aliko Dangote publicly accused Ahmed of economic sabotage and petitioned anti-graft investigators to probe his wealth.
The swift exit of the two officials, appointed in 2021 under former President Muhammadu Buhari, presses forward the political weight of Dangote’s allegations and the deepening turmoil in Nigeria’s energy sector.
The dispute centers on regulatory tensions surrounding the Dangote Group’s $20 billion refinery, which has repeatedly clashed with the NMDPRA over fuel import licenses, pricing, and market oversight. The standoff intensified over the weekend when Dangote openly questioned how Ahmed could afford approximately $5 million for the secondary education of his four children in Switzerland.
“How can a public servant afford that?” Dangote asked during a public engagement on Sunday. By Tuesday, he formalized his accusations in a petition to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, calling for an investigation into what he termed “questionable personal wealth” and acts of “economic sabotage” by the regulator.
In a statement confirming the shake-up, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayi Onanuga said Tinubu has forwarded the names of proposed successors to the Senate for confirmation.
