A coalition of civil society groups has withdrawn petitions against the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed.

The groups had accused Ahmed of mismanaging public funds and using them to sponsor his children’s education abroad, to the tune of $5 million.

They, however, explained that after conducting further investigations, they discovered that their initial allegations were unfounded.

In a press statement on Wednesday, the groups tendered an unreserved apology to Ahmed and his family for the harm caused by their false allegations. They also commended Ahmed’s efforts in implementing the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA 2021), which has ensured equitable distribution of petroleum products nationwide.

The statement was signed by Olawale Mudasiru of Lawyers in Defence of Good Governance; Alh. Abdullahi Farouk, Northern Interest Project; Engr. Emeka Obioara, Young Professionals for Peace and Development; Adedayo Oluwasegun, Coalition of Civil Society Against Corruption; Agozie Chibudom, South East Frontiers; Perepate Godspower, Niger Delta Advocacy for Good Governance among others.

The statement read: “Our further findings and investigations later brought to our notice showed that our initial allegations were unfounded as further evidence made available to us shows that the said children had already graduated from their respective institutions even before he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the agency, and also that the said children were on scholarship during their stay as students of the institutions.

“This means that our initial claim was false and misleading as other findings have revealed in the case of further enquiries to press home our demand. Based on superior findings that negates our initial demand, we hereby use this medium to withdraw our initial petitions against the NMDPRA Boss, and tender an unreserved apology for the wrong information we were peddling about him.

“We are not mindful of the pains this would have caused the entire family while the petition was submitted and followed. We were misinformed and we tendered our apology on the misleading news we have spread to the public against the CEO”.