THE Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has said it would continue investigating allegations against the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, despite the withdrawal of a petition filed by billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote.
In a statement signed by the commission’s spokesperson, J. Okor Odey, on Wednesday, January 7, the ICPC confirmed that it received a letter dated January 5, 2026, from O.J. Onoja, a senior advocate and counsel to Dangote, notifying the commission of the withdrawal of the petition dated December 16, 2025.
The letter also indicated that another law enforcement agency had taken over the matter.
Meanwhile, impeccable sources told The ICIR that Dangote requested that the ICPC discontinue its investigation on the grounds that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was already handling the case.
The ICPC was said to have declined the request, maintaining that it had already commenced investigations and could not be directed by a petitioner on how to exercise its statutory mandate.
The commission insisted it would proceed with the probe in the interest of the Nigerian state.
The ICIR gathered that the ICPC requested Dangote’s legal team to endorse the investigation but has yet to do so.
As part of its ongoing probe, the commission was also said to have contacted the Switzerland school where the children of the former NMDPRA chief are allegedly enrolled to verify claims relating to their tuition fees which Dangote claimed was above the lawful means of their father.
Speaking further in its Wednesday statement, the ICPC vowed that the withdrawal of Dangote’s petition would not affect its investigation, noting that the probe had already commenced in line with sections 3(14) and 27(3) of its enabling Act.
“The ICPC wishes to state categorically that in line with the provisions of sections 3(14) and 27(3) of its enabling Act, the investigations in the interest of the Nigerian people and the Nigerian state have already commenced and are presently ongoing,” the commission said.
Backstory
Dangote’s petition accused Ahmed of abuse of office, corruption, financial impropriety and violations of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers.
The ICPC had earlier confirmed receipt of the petition and assured the public that the allegations would be investigated.
In the petition, Dangote, through his lawyers, alleged that Ahmed spent over $7 million in public funds on the education of his four children in Switzerland, an expenditure he claimed was inconsistent with the earnings of a career public servant.
The petition also alleged diversion of public funds.
The allegations emerged amid tensions in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, where Dangote has repeatedly accused regulatory authorities and entrenched interests of undermining domestic refining and protecting fuel import cartels.
Following the public allegation against him, Ahmed resigned as Chief Executive Officer of the NMDPRA, with the Presidency confirming his resignation on December 17, 2025, and nominating Saidu Aliyu Mohammed as his replacement.
Although the Presidency did not directly link Ahmed’s resignation to the allegations, the timing of his exit heightened suspicion on the matter.
Ahmed, who was appointed in September 2021 under the Petroleum Industry Act, dismissed the allegations against him as “wild and spurious” and said he would not engage publicly while the matter was before investigative agencies.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M