*CSOs accused of sponsored smear campaigns against Farouk Ahmed
By Charles Ebi, Abuja
An investigation by AljazirahNigeria has revealed that accusations by a coalition of civil societies that the Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Engr. Farouk Ahmed, flee from Nigeria to evade arrest in connection with ongoing probe are baseless.
Besides, the investigation also revealed an alleged sponsorship of the CSOs with a view to smearing Ahmed’s reputation for their personal gains in line with what sources described as “dictate from pay masters”.
Reliable sources in NMDPRA that craved anonymity because they are not authorised to speak on the allegations of the activists said that the CEO actually is”performing Hajj in Saudi Arabia”.
They are unanimous that Ahmed is not “hiding on a private island in the United States as alleged by smear campaigners”.
According to sources in NMDPRA the head of the agency got due approval from President Bola Tinubu for the pilgrimage to Makkah.
One of the sources said “he is aware of the games being play by smear campaigns executioners as a survival antic”.
He further said that in any case “such campaigns are dead on arrival. As the good job Ahmed has been doing will naturally vindicate him”.
Similarly, another source said “the CEO doesn’t have a skeleton in his closet and no baggages either”, he said.
He went on to say that the CEO of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Engr. Farouk Ahmed is delivering tangible results.
AljazirahNigeria recalls that the CEO of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority under the watch of Ahmed have many successes to his name including recording a milestone of licensing 83 refineries with a combined total refining capacity of 1,124,500.
A breakdown of the licences includes eight refineries with Licenses to Operate, LTO, 30 refineries with Licenses to Construct, LTC, and 45 refineries with Licenses to Establish, LTE.
The NMDPRA under Farouk Ahmed played a significant role in the bouncing back to life of Warri and Port Harcourt refineries while repair works are ongoing at the Kaduna Refinery is at 81% completion.
It would be recalled that the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, created specific institutions to drive the operations of Nigeria’s petroleum sector.
Interestingly, it purposefully, established the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority in August 2021 as an institution responsible for the provision of legal, governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry as well as development of host communities.
Many in the oil and gas sector, however, condemned what they described as unwarranted attacks against the NMDPRA CEO.
