Court dismisses Dangote’s N100bn suit against NNPCL over oil import licences

Court dismisses Dangote’s N100bn suit against NNPCL over oil import licences

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday dismissed the N100 billion lawsuit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and six others over the issuance of petroleum import licences.

Justice Mohammed Umar struck out the case after counsel to Dangote, C.O. Adegbe, informed the court that the company had decided to discontinue the matter. Although the plaintiff asked for the suit to be struck out, defence lawyers urged the court to dismiss it completely, arguing that the case had already progressed to the stage of adoption of written addresses.

Delivering his ruling, Justice Umar said the suit was already at a stage where dismissal was appropriate, but since no costs were sought, it was dismissed without penalty.

The suit, initially filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo but reassigned to Justice Umar, sought to invalidate import licences issued by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to NNPCL and five private oil marketers—AYM Shafa Ltd, A.A. Rano Ltd, T. Time Petroleum Ltd, 2015 Petroleum Ltd and Matrix Petroleum Services Ltd.

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Dangote Refinery had asked the court to award N100 billion in damages against NMDPRA for allegedly breaching Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by permitting fuel importation despite the refinery’s domestic production.

However, defence counsel argued that Dangote’s withdrawal was a strategy to refile an improved suit. They urged the court to dismiss the case outright to prevent what they described as an attempt to “panel-beat” the claims and return.

The NNPCL had separately challenged the case, claiming it had been wrongly sued under a non-existent legal name. It also argued that the matter disclosed no cause of action and was premature.

The NMDPRA, in its response, insisted that Dangote’s refinery had not met Nigeria’s daily fuel supply needs and that issuing import licences was necessary to prevent scarcity and protect competition in the sector. The oil marketers also warned that granting Dangote’s request would create a monopoly and jeopardise national supply security.

Earlier in March, Justice Ekwo had dismissed a preliminary objection filed by NNPCL and allowed Dangote to amend the suit to correct the corporation’s name.

With the case now dismissed, all claims by Dangote Refinery against NNPCL and the co-defendants stand terminated.

Court dismisses Dangote’s N100bn suit against NNPCL over oil import licences