LAGOS, Nigeria — Aliko Dangote, president of Dangote Industries Limited, has released detailed figures to support his claim that Farouk Ahmed, chief executive of Nigeria’s Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, spent about $5 million on the secondary education of his children abroad, escalating a public dispute that now touches both personal finances and the integrity of Nigeria’s fuel regulation system.
In a newspaper advertisement 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 publication followed remarks Dangote made on Monday, December 15, 2025, questioning how a public official could afford such expenses and calling for an investigation into what he described as a possible compromise of regulatory leadership.
In the advert, Dangote identified the children as Faisal Farouk, Farouk Jr., Ashraf Farouk and Farhana Farouk, and listed the schools they reportedly attended as Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institut Le Rosey and La Garenne International School.
According to Dangote, the estimates include tuition, living expenses, airfare and general upkeep for four children over several years.
He said the annual cost of tuition, travel and upkeep per child was $200,000, amounting to $800,000 per year for all four children.
He further claimed that living expenses and air tickets over six years totalled $1.2 million per child, or $4.8 million combined.
“Based on these figures, the combined cost of tuition and upkeep reached about $5 million,” Dangote said.
He also outlined what he described as the cost of the children’s tertiary education, estimating average annual expenses of $125,000 over four years.
That figure, he said, amounted to $500,000 per child, or $2 million for all four.
“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,” Dangote added.
He argued that Nigerians deserved to know the source of such 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”.
Neither Ahmed nor the regulatory authority had issued an official response by the time of publication, and Tribune Online said it could not independently verify Dangote’s claims.
The school fees controversy emerged alongside broader accusations Dangote has levelled against the petroleum regulator.
Speaking during a media briefing at his refinery on Sunday, December 14, 2025, Dangote accused the authority of issuing licences for the importation of petroleum products, including fuel sourced from Russia, and alleged collusion with international traders to frustrate domestic refining.
“Some people are really bent on destroying the economy of the country by making sure that they keep issuing licences to bring in products from Russia,” he said.
Dangote claimed the regulator approved licences for the importation of about 7.5 billion litres of petrol for the first quarter of 2026, despite assurances of adequate local supply.
He said discounted Russian products, compared with Nigerian crude sold at a premium, placed local refiners at a disadvantage and weakened the downstream sector.
“The volume of imports being allowed into the country is totally unethical and does a disservice to Nigeria,” he said.
“It is not good. We have already built our own. Other people will not be able to build their own, if this thing continues.”
Dangote warned that allowing commercial traders to influence regulation undermines the integrity of the sector.
“A trader should never be a regulator,” he said.
