The Coalition of Northern Youths Organization has written an open letter to President Bola Tinubu, calling for the sack of the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed.
The northern youths further issued a seven-day ultimatum
asking Ahmed to resign or face mass action.
The demand came as the Authority faces scrutiny over its
handling of petroleum products’ importation and regulation.
The coalition, in an open letter signed by its spokesperson,
Muhammed Saad Aboki, claimed that Ahmed faces multiple allegations, including
economic sabotage related to the importation of petroleum products containing
high levels of unsafe compounds.
The letter read: “With a bleeding heart, the above named
organization writes to notify you of its resolve to call for the sack of Chief
Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory
Authority (NMDPRA) Engineer Farouk Ahmed.
“This became necessary after a deep and thorough review of all
that has happened recently, surrounding the Chief Executive Officer, which led
us to a number of allegations leveled against him that are hereby under listed:
“As CEO of a regulatory body in the oil and gas industry, he
was giving out licenses to some traders who regularly import high- sulphur
content (of around 1800ppm and 2000ppm, respectively, diesel into Nigeria,
knowing fully that such products pose grave health risks and huge financial
losses for the country.
“Propagation of reckless and unguarded statements outage
conducting any prior investigation, which sparked national courage, spread of
further tension in the country amidst ongoing protest against the Government.
“Deliberately acting against Petroleum Industry Act (section
109) which introduced the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation to ensure that local
refineries receive crude allocations without being strangled.
“Alleged possession of a refinery/blending plant in Malta,
hence his continued insistence on the continued importation of fuel, which is
an act of economic sabotage as the imported products have been shown to contain
high levels of dangerous compounds.
“Abuse of office and using his position as Chief Executive
Officer of a regulatory body to undermine local refineries and frustrate their
operations and existence, knowing fully their existence will reduce demand for
foreign exchange and strengthen Naira, hiding under the pretence of producing
inferior products by these refineries, whereas it is the imported products that
are inferior.”
The letter added: “In view of this unfortunate and rather
shameful development, Coalition of Northern Youths has unanimously resolved to
call for the sack of Engineer Farouk Ahmed to allow for a neutral ground on
which a proper investigation into various allegations leveled against him will
be conducted. We honestly believe it is only if he is not in the picture that
thorough investigation will be carried out without any obstruction in the
process or bias.
“Sir, you will concur with me that it is high time we
started to punish the perpetrators of bribery and corruption, unprofessionalism
and incompetency to serve as deterrence and also in line with President
Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to make Nigeria a better nation.
“Against this backdrop, the Coalition of Northern Youth
Organization is calling on Nigerians to come out and occupy NMDPRA headquarters
daily from Wednesday 28th August 2024 until Engr Farouk Ahmed resigns or is sacked
for inflicting suffering on Nigerians and inciting Nigerians against the
renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.”
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