*Storm AGF, ICPC offices, demand probe of Farouk Adamu, NMDPRA boss
*Accuse him of diverting $5m (N7.7bn) public funds to fund 4 children’s foreign education
*That the children are in Swiss institutions including Institut Le Rosey and Aiglon College
*Warns that protest will not stop until Tinubu suspends Adamu pending investigation
By Ere-ebi Agedah Imisi
Activists under the aegis of Concerned Lawyers and Civil Rights Campaigners for Change on Tuesday staged a protest at the offices of the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, and the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB, demanding an immediate investigation into alleged corruption by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed.
In a statement by the group, which claimed the protest was now in its second day, noted that the protest was sustained despite heavy rainfall, as hundreds of demonstrators barricaded the entrances of the anti-graft agencies.
The protesters, led by activist Comrade Istifanus Bawa, alleged that Farouk Ahmed diverted over $5 million in public funds to finance the elite foreign education of his four children at prestigious Swiss institutions, including Institut Le Rosey and Aiglon College.
“We are here today drenched by rain but fired up by conscience. The stench of corruption from the NMDPRA is unbearable. If the Attorney General, the ICPC, or the Code of Conduct Bureau refuses to act, then they are complicit,” Bawa told journalists.
He cited whistleblower reports and financial documents suggesting the tuition fees were routed through third-party accounts and foreign exchange transfers to obscure the source of the funds.
Bawa said the group would not back down until President Bola Tinubu either orders a transparent probe or suspends the NMDPRA boss pending investigation.
Meanwhile, at the ICPC headquarters in Maitama, protesters chanted anti-corruption slogans and submitted a petition calling for a forensic audit of NMDPRA’s accounts.
Civil rights lawyer Amaka John-Eze, who joined the protest, said, “This is not just about missing money, it’s about the erosion of institutional trust, if those entrusted with regulating oil assets are abusing their positions, then governance is compromised.”
“Every time we allow a scandal like this to be swept under the carpet, we embolden the next thief,” she said.
