The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), and five oil marketing companies were sued by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE over an oil import license dispute. The Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed the hearing until November 5, 2025.
The case, which had been scheduled for Wednesday, was reportedly unable to move forward because Justice Mohammed Umar, who was reportedly seated in the court’s Enugu Division, was not present.
On July 10, Justice Umar ordered the parties involved in the lawsuit to standardize their procedures and mandated that defendants who were not present receive notice of the hearing. Before being transferred to Umar, the matter had been heard by Justice Inyang Ekwo, necessitating a fresh start.
Dangote Refinery is requesting through its attorney, Ogwu Onoja (SAN), that the court invalidate the petroleum import licenses that the NMDPRA granted to NNPCL and five marketers: AYM Shafa Limited, A.A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited.
The refinery claimed that Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which only allow such approvals in situations of verifiable product deficits, were breached by the licenses’ issuance.
Additionally, Dangote demanded ₦100 billion in damages from the NMDPRA for allegedly harming the local refining industry and continuing to approve imports in violation of the PIA.
In a preliminary objection submitted through Afe Babalola & Co., the NNPCL asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, characterizing it as premature and incompetent.
The corporation stated that the plaintiff sued a nonexistent company called “Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC)” in an affidavit given to by Isiaka Popoola, a law clerk.
According to Popoola, “a straightforward search on the CAC website reveals that there is no entity called ‘Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC),” and the court lacked jurisdiction over the defendant with the incorrect name.
NNPCL requested that the court dismiss the complaint on the grounds that the refinery had not disclosed any cause of action against it.
Idris Musa, a senior regulatory officer with the NMDPRA, stated in a counteraffidavit that Dangote was not eligible for any of the requested reliefs.
According to Musa, the refinery’s production output nevertheless fell well short of the country’s needs. He continued by saying that the NMDPRA was authorized by Section 317(9) of the PIA to grant import licenses in order to fill gaps, maintain competition, and avoid unhealthy monopolies in the downstream industry.
Dangote’s allegations of a plot were rejected by him as “baseless and unsupported by facts or evidence.”
AYM Shafa, A.A. Rano, and Matrix Petroleum Services, the oil marketers who joined the lawsuit, opposed Dangote’s prayers, claiming that fulfilling them would “spell doom” for the sector.
The marketers contended that the refinery had not yet satisfied Nigeria’s daily consumption needs in their joint counteraffidavit, which was submitted on November 5, 2024. They insisted that the court was not presented with any evidence to the contrary.
They claimed that Dangote’s stance would be harmful to Nigerians since it was an attempt to monopolize the petroleum industry.
On March 18, Justice Ekwo had earlier rejected the NNPCL’s preliminary objection, ruling that the application was premature and incompetent.
He decided that NNPCL should have submitted a counter-affidavit as a defense before voicing objections.
Additionally, Ekwo rejected the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s (FCCPC) motion for joinder, calling the organization a “meddlesome interloper,” while granting Dangote’s request to modify its originating process to accurately reflect the name of the NNPCL.
The Federal High Court will hear arguments from all parties about the validity of the import licenses, the extent of the PIA, and Dangote’s damages claims against the regulatory body on November 5.
