A broad coalition of civil society organisations has announced coordinated nationwide protests across Nigeria, alongside simultaneous demonstrations in New York and London, demanding the immediate removal of Farouk Ahmed as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The protests are scheduled to begin on Wednesday from the NMDPRA headquarters in Abuja and will continue throughout the week in major cities across the country. Parallel demonstrations are planned at the United Nations headquarters in New York and the Nigeria House in London, signalling what organisers described as a global push to draw attention to alleged misconduct at the nation’s petroleum regulatory agency.
The coalition comprises local and international organisations, including Nigerian Citizens for Transparency (NCT), Anti-Corruption Alliance of Nigeria (ACAN), Sokoto Welfare Foundation (SWF), Coalition for Economic Justice (CEJ), African Refiners Network (ARN), Lagos Civil Rights Movement (LCRM), Global Nigerians Diaspora Forum (GNDF), Nigerian Integrity Watch (NIW), Petroleum Workers Union of Nigeria (PWUN), Youth Empowerment Initiative (YEI), Economic Sabotage Watch Group (ESWG), International Coalition Against Corruption (ICAC) and Diaspora Advocacy Network (DAN). Others are British-Nigerian Solidarity Forum (BNSF), Anti-Graft Campaign UK (AGCU), Human Rights Defenders League (HRDL), Sustainable Energy Alliance (SEA) and National Anti-Corruption Front (NACF).
In a statement issued on behalf of the coalition, Comrade Dan Danilson accused Ahmed of betraying public trust, alleging that the NMDPRA chief spent millions of dollars on luxury foreign education for his children while millions of Nigerians struggle to afford basic school fees.
“Nigerians are deeply shocked and outraged that a public official entrusted with regulating a critical national resource has allegedly squandered millions of dollars sending just three of his children to exclusive secondary schools in Switzerland, while millions of suffering citizens in Sokoto State and across the country cannot afford basic education,” the statement said.
Danilson described the alleged conduct as “a glaring betrayal of public trust” and an example of unacceptable extravagance in a country battling widespread poverty. He vowed that the coalition would maintain sustained pressure until Ahmed is removed from office and subjected to a full investigation.
According to him, the protests are not only about alleged personal enrichment but also about what the coalition described as policy failures in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector. He accused Ahmed of undermining Nigeria’s drive for energy independence by allegedly protecting fuel importers at the expense of local refiners, a situation he said has worsened fuel scarcity and kept petrol prices high.
“The lavish lifestyle of Farouk Ahmed, funded by questionable wealth while he occupies one of the most sensitive positions in Nigeria’s economy, is an intolerable insult to every struggling Nigerian,” Danilson said. “Spending millions on foreign luxury education for his children while parents in Sokoto beg to pay N10,000 school fees shows a leader completely detached from the suffering of the people.”
The coalition further alleged that Ahmed’s actions amounted to economic sabotage, accusing him of placing personal and foreign interests above national development and domestic investment in the petroleum sector.
“The protests starting Wednesday from his very office will send an unmistakable message: Farouk Ahmed must go now,” Danilson added. “The trust he has shattered cannot be restored by half measures. Only his immediate removal and a comprehensive investigation will begin to address the damage done.”
The coalition warned that any failure by the authorities to act decisively on the allegations would signal official tolerance of corruption in one of Nigeria’s most critical economic sectors. It also called on Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to participate in what it described as a historic stand against corruption and economic injustice.
