Dangote Refinery loses N100bn suit against NNPCL over oil import licence dispute

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 court’s decision came after the plaintiff’s counsel, C.O. Adegbe, withdrew the suit, citing a notice of discontinuance filed on July 28. The case, which began de novo after being reassigned to Justice Mohammed Umar, had sought to nullify import licenses issued by the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to the NNPCL and five other companies. Dangote Refinery had claimed that these licenses were issued in violation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which only allows for such licenses to be issued in cases of petroleum product shortfalls. The defendants, including NMDPRA, NNPCL, and the five other companies, had opposed the suit, arguing that it was incompetent and disclosed no cause of action. The NNPCL had also raised a preliminary objection, challenging the court’s jurisdiction to hear the case. However, Justice Inyang Ekwo had previously dismissed this objection, ruling that the NNPCL ought to have filed a defense in the form of a counter affidavit before raising an objection. In their counter affidavits, the defendants had argued that Dangote Refinery’s current production was yet to meet the national daily petroleum products sufficiency requirement, and that the NMDPRA had issued licenses to import petroleum products to bridge product shortfalls. They also denied allegations of a “grand conspiracy” against Dangote Refinery, describing them as unfounded and lacking in evidence. The court’s decision to dismiss the suit without cost is significant, as it suggests that the plaintiff’s claims were without merit. The case had sparked concerns about the potential for monopoly in the oil sector, with the defendants arguing that granting Dangote’s application would spell doom for the country’s oil sector. With the suit now dismissed, the focus is likely to shift to the ongoing efforts to promote competition and prevent abuse of dominant market positions in the oil and gas sector.