President of Dangote Industries Limited, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has withdrawn a petition he filed with the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission against the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed.
PLATFORM TIMES gathered on Wednesday night that the petition was formally withdrawn through Dangote’s lawyer, Mr Ogwu Onoja (SAN).
However, it was learnt that the withdrawal followed the decision of another government agency to take over the matter, prompting a review of the process already initiated at the ICPC.
Dangote had in December accused Ahmed of allegedly abusing his office to embezzle and divert public funds for personal gain and the pursuit of private interests, actions he claimed were detrimental to the Nigerian people.
The billionaire businessman had insisted at the time that he possessed substantial documentary and factual evidence to support his allegations.
Confirming the latest development, the spokesperson for the ICPC, Mr John Odey, told our correspondent that although the petition had been withdrawn, the commission would not discontinue its engagement with the matter.
In a statement issued afterwards, Odey said the ICPC would continue to investigate the allegations in line with its statutory responsibilities.
He stressed that the commission’s decision to proceed with inquiries, notwithstanding the withdrawal of the petition, was in the interest of transparency, accountability and Nigeria’s broader anti-corruption efforts.
“The commission remains committed to its mandate of investigating corruption-related matters to ensure public trust and good governance,” Odey said.
The development comes weeks after the ICPC had invited Dangote over the petition, following public attention generated by the allegations against the former NMDPRA boss.
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