NEWS
Petroleum Expert, Engr. Kailani Mohammed Challenges Dangote Over Wealth Origins, Accuses Him of Personal Attacks and Monopoly Tactics Amid NMDPRA Controversy
A Nigerian petroleum expert, Engr. Kailani Mohammed, has publicly challenged business mogul Aliko Dangote to disclose how he made his money during his time in Port Harcourt in the 1980s, amid the growing controversy surrounding allegations against the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed.
Mohammed made the remark while responding to Dangote’s allegations against the NMDPRA boss, which have sparked widespread debate within the petroleum sector and the wider public space.
According to the oil expert, the approach adopted by Dangote in making personal allegations undermines healthy industry discourse and raises questions about motives within Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market.
The petroleum expert cautioned that Dangote should desist from what he described as personal attacks in the course of business and regulatory disagreements, insisting that such tactics are often deployed in attempts to dominate or monopolize the sector. Mohammed stated that Dangote should stop “touching people personally” in his efforts to monopolize the petroleum industry.
Dangote had accused Farouk Ahmed of allegedly spending about $5 million on the secondary education of his children in Switzerland, an allegation that has since attracted strong reactions from industry stakeholders and commentators.
In a widely circulated video, Dangote challenged Farouk to publicly deny the allegations, asserting that he possesses incontrovertible evidence to back up his claims. The video has fueled further controversy, drawing attention to the strained relationship between the refinery owner and petroleum sector regulators.
However, Mohammed, in an interview with Trust TV, pushed back strongly against Dangote’s stance, questioning the moral authority of making personal allegations without self-reflection.
He said:
“When you are fighting, you don’t touch people personally. Can Dangote tell us the source of his money in the 1980s when he was in Port Harcourt? Who is clean?
“Every time you want to monopolize, you bring up issues and allegations against people. In the 1980s, we are aware of what happened in Port Harcourt, how he got his money, yet nobody came out to say all these things.
“He previously said that the Dangote Refinery was producing 40 percent. The FCC in his refinery, the Fuel Catalytic Cracker that would make it about 80 or 90 percent, is not working. Farouk said it before, and we reiterated it.”
Mohammed’s comments add another layer to the ongoing debate over regulatory oversight, refinery operations, and market dominance in Nigeria’s petroleum industry, as stakeholders continue to scrutinize both the technical claims about refinery performance and the personal allegations now dominating public discourse.