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The Presidency has said President Bola Tinubu will not instruct Nigeria’s anti-corruption agencies to investigate the two former petroleum regulators, Farouk Ahmed and Gbenga Komolafe.
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, clarified this on X while responding to public criticism over Ahmed and Komolafe’s resignation.
Any investigation into Ahmed and Komolafe’s resignation is the responsibility of Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Onanuga stated.
He noted that the EFCC and ICPC are “autonomous institutions” that do not take instructions from the President, noting that “the ball is now in their courts to carry out their mandates. Mr President will not tell them what to do.”
Onanuga was responding to criticism from a social media user, OurFaveOnlineDoc, who questioned the absence of arrests or prosecutions following the resignation of the officials. The post, which had attracted more than 63,000 views, described the situation as damaging to public trust.
“No prosecution. No arrest. No investigation. No proper accountability. Just an allegation of stealing public funds. Followed by a quiet resignation, everybody can move on. This is not how to build a sane country with trust, integrity and respect before the world. What a shame.” OurFaveOnlineDoc wrote.
OurFaveOnlineDoc’s comments followed the resignation of Farouk Ahmed, former chief executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which came about 24 hours after corruption allegations were made against him by businessman Aliko Dangote.
Gbenga Komolafe, former chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), also stepped down from office.
The Presidency announced the resignations on Wednesday, saying President Tinubu had nominated replacements and asked the Senate to approve them.
In a follow-up response, OurFaveOnlineDoc said he would revisit the issue in the future to see whether the EFCC or ICPC had taken action.
“The ball is now with EFCC and ICPC, right? No problem, sir. I will come back to this tweet in two years to ask you how it is going. I’m a patient man. I will be back to remind you how useless and inept the EFCC and ICPC are. I will be here to let the world know that your govt only provided an easy way out for the man. I’m a patient man. I will be back in 2 years.”
