Africa News of Tuesday, 16 December 2025

Dangote alleges NMDPRA CEO spent $5m on children's education in Switzerland

Aliko Dangote, Chairman of the Dangote Group, has alleged that Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), spent about $5 million on the secondary school education of his children in Switzerland.

In a paid newspaper advert published on Tuesday December 16, 2025, the billionaire businessman stated that Ahmed paid the amount to educate four of his children over a six-year period.

On Monday, Dangote had alleged that Ahmed “paid $5 million” to Swiss secondary schools for his children’s education, describing the expenditure as “economic sabotage and corruption.”

According to Dangote, the children attended Montreux School, Aiglon College, Institut Le Rosey, and La Garenne International School during the six-year period.

He also presented estimated annual costs covering tuition, living expenses, air travel, and upkeep, which were calculated across four children and multiple years of study.

Dangote said the annual cost of tuition, airfare, and upkeep per child was $200,000, amounting to $800,000 per year for all four children.

He further explained that living expenses and air tickets per child over six years totalled $1.2 million, bringing the combined figure to $4.8 million for the four children.

Overall, Dangote estimated that the combined cost of tuition and upkeep for all the children reached $5 million.

The billionaire also listed tertiary education expenses, noting that tuition, upkeep, airfare, and other costs average $125,000 per year over a four-year period.

According to him, this amounts to $500,000 per child over four years, totalling $2 million for all four children.

Providing further details, Dangote said, “Faisal just finished his 2025 Harvard MBA at $150,000, with $60,000 spent on upkeep, tickets, and other incidentals. Total = $210,000 spent in 2025 for Faisal’s MBA.”

Dangote argued that Nigerians deserve to know the source of the funds “paid by a public officer while many parents in his home state of Sokoto cannot afford to pay ₦10,000 school fees for their children and wards.”