Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has sued the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, AA Rano Limited, and four other firms in the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking the revocation of their import licenses.
The main focus of the case was the importation of refined petroleum products, which Dangote Refinery said were already produced in sufficient quantities domestically.
In addition, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is being sued by Dangote Refinery for ₦100 billion in damages.
Although Dangote’s production capacity exceeds Nigeria’s current daily consumption of diesel and jet fuel, the refinery claimed that the NMDPRA has illegally continued to provide import permits to the NNPCL, Matrix Energy, and others for these goods.
T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, A.Y.M. Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, NMDPRA, NNPCL, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited are among the defendants in this lawsuit.
In its original summons, Dangote claimed that by granting import licenses in situations where there is no product shortage, the NMDPRA had broken articles 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The refinery argued that these licenses need to be issued only in cases where a proven demand for imported goods exists.
According to the Dangote Refinery Group’s declaration, the import licenses granted to other businesses hurt Dangote’s operations, which have resulted in billions of dollars in production investments. The business said that a lack of interest in Dangote’s products was the outcome of these activities.
By claiming that the creation of free zones is intended to promote competition and draw in foreign investment, the group claimed that NMDPRA had threatened to apply a 0.5% levy on Dangote’s wholesale transactions, in violation of legal provisions that prohibit such levies on transactions within free zones.
Dangote’s legal team said that in order to stop continuous breaches of legislative requirements that favour some corporations over others, the situation required judicial action.
The refinery requested an injunction to stop the defendants’ import permits from being issued or renewed by the NMDPRA.
A declaration that Dangote is exempt from all federal, state, and local government taxes, levies, and rates as a registered free-zone enterprise; a declaration that imposing additional levies on Dangote is against various legislative acts; an order directing the NMDPRA to withdraw all import licenses granted to the defendants; general damages of ₦100 billion against NMDPRA; and an order directing the NMDPRA to seal off all facilities used by the defendants for storing imported refined petroleum products.
At the court hearing on Monday, Dangote’s legal team updated the judge on the parties’ continuing settlement talks. In order to enable these discussions, he asked for an adjournment.
The case was then postponed to January 20, 2025, for the report of the presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo.
