A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a N100 billion suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE against the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other defendants over an oil import‑licence dispute. The plaintiff’s counsel, C.O. Adegbe, withdrew the suit after filing a notice of discontinuance on 28 July, prompting the court’s decision.
The case, which had been reassigned to Justice Mohammed Umar and heard de novo, sought to nullify import licences issued by the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to NNPCL and five other companies. Dangote Refinery argued that the licences violated the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which permits such licences only when there are petroleum‑product shortfalls.
The defendants—including NMDPRA, NNPCL and the five companies—contended that the suit was incompetent and disclosed no cause of action. NNPCL also raised a preliminary objection challenging the court’s jurisdiction, but Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed that objection, ruling that NNPCL should have filed a defence in the form of a counter‑affidavit before raising a jurisdictional challenge.
In their counter‑affidavits, the defendants argued that Dangote’s current production had not yet met the national daily petroleum‑product sufficiency requirement, and that the NMDPRA had issued the licences to bridge genuine product shortfalls. They denied any “grand conspiracy” against Dangote, describing such allegations as unfounded and unsupported by evidence.
The court’s dismissal of the suit without costs indicates that the plaintiff’s claims were deemed meritless. The case had raised concerns about a potential monopoly in the oil sector, with defendants warning that granting Dangote’s application could jeopardise the industry. With the suit now dismissed, attention is likely to shift to ongoing efforts to promote competition and prevent abuse of dominant market positions in the oil and gas sector.
Comments are closed for this story.