Protest rocks Abuja as pressure mounts on Tinubu to sack NMDPRA boss

President Bola Tinubu has been urged to sack Engineer Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The coalition of lawyers and civil society groups made this demand during a protest at the agency's headquarters in Abuja on Monday, May 26, over allegations of corruption and misuse of public funds.

The protesters, under the banner of Concerned Lawyers and Civil Society in Defence of Public Trust, accused Ahmed of diverting public funds to finance the foreign education of his children at elite Swiss institutions, including Aiglon College and Institut Le Rosey, where tuition can exceed N300 million annually.

READ ALSO: Wike told to sack FCTA official over alleged anti-Tinubu protest

“This protest is about justice,” said Barrister Martins Adaji, one of the protest leaders.

“We are done clapping for thieves. Engr. Farouk Ahmed must step down NOW. He must return every kobo spent on his children’s foreign education and face the full weight of the law.”

"He must resign today. He must return every kobo spent on his children’s foreign education. And he must face the full weight of the law. That is the only way the Nigerian people will believe that justice still lives in this land." 

The group also fired a direct message at President Tinubu urging him to take action.

"To the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, we ask you: will you watch this continue under your administration? Or will you act, and show that your government is serious about transparency and equity?"

READ ALSO: Calls for Defence Minister's sack intensify as lawmaker, group declare him unfit

Protesters are also calling for a comprehensive audit of the NMDPRA’s finances and prosecution of Ahmed under the Public Procurement Act and Code of Conduct guidelines.

They demanded that any recovered funds be redirected to rebuild dilapidated schools in oil-producing communities.

“If our demands are ignored,” Adaji warned, “we will return stronger, louder, and more resolute.”