The Coalition for Public Accountability (COPA) has accused Farouk Ahmed, chief executive officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), of fleeing Nigeria to evade arrest.
In a statement on Saturday, the group said Ahmed is “currently hiding on a private island in the United States” under the pretence of performing Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
The group said Ahmed’s exit from the country is a calculated attempt to avoid prosecution over allegations of corruption, abuse of office, and unexplained foreign education expenses for his children.
The group said: “We have received credible intelligence that Engr. Farouk Ahmed is not in Saudi Arabia or the UAE as publicly claimed. Instead, he is currently hiding on a private island in the United States.
“This escape was carefully staged to mislead authorities and frustrate ongoing investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).”
The statement was signed by Ibrahim Adekunle, president of COPA.
He described Ahmed’s conduct as “a desperate flight from justice” by a high-ranking public official who had betrayed public trust.
Adekunle said: “This is not just a case of moral failure or financial mismanagement.
“We are talking about a coordinated abuse of public office to fund a luxury lifestyle and foreign education for his children in elite European schools, using mechanisms that appear to have involved financial proxies and undeclared accounts.
“His disappearance confirms our fears — that the man has no intention of facing justice and is exploiting diplomatic and procedural loopholes to escape the consequences of his actions.”
Ahmed had earlier faced public backlash following petitions submitted by the Concerned Lawyers Forum, which accused him of sponsoring the education of four children abroad with untraceable funds.
The petition alleged that the transactions, totalling over $5 million, were inconsistent with Ahmed’s official earnings and were not declared in his asset filings.
COPA also raised conflict of interest concerns over the alleged influence Ahmed exerted to secure a job for his son, Faisal, at Oando PLC — a company regulated by the agency he heads.
“What we see here is not only a breakdown of accountability but the willingness of a public servant to mislead the nation and compromise national institutions,” Adekunle said.
He called on the EFCC, ICPC, and the CCB to immediately activate international extradition protocols.
“We are calling on the EFCC, ICPC, and the CCB to bring Farouk Ahmed back to Nigeria to face the law,” he said.
COPA also urged the federal government to work with Interpol and the U.S. Department of Justice to track Ahmed’s location.
The group demanded the immediate freezing of all accounts and assets linked to Ahmed and his associates, pending the outcome of investigations.
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