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Dangote Refinery has said it will withdraw the suit to invalidate the import license issued to NNPCL and others in January 2025.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals had in September filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja, seeking to invalidate import licenses issued to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and four other companies.
In the suit, numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, Dangote Refinery sought N100 billion in damages from the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), claiming the agency has continued to issue import permits for products such as Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Jet-A1 (aviation turbine fuel) despite Dangote’s ability to meet the country’s consumption needs.
It argues that these licenses were unnecessary, as it already produces sufficient refined petroleum products to meet Nigeria’s demand while it similarly asked the court for an injunction preventing NMDPRA from issuing or renewing import licenses to the named companies. Additionally, the refinery seeks an order to seal all storage facilities used for imported petroleum products by the defendants.
Among the other reliefs requested is a declaration that Dangote Refinery, as a Free-Zone Enterprise, is exempt from federal, state, and local taxes, levies, and other charges in addition to a declaration that imposing a 0.5 per cent levy on off-takers of petroleum products and an additional wholesale levy violates the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Act (NEPZA), the Companies Income Tax Act, and other regulations.
Defendants in the case include NMDPRA, NNPCL, Aym Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited.
In the court documents dated September 6, 2024, Dangote’s legal counsel, Ogwu James Onoja argued that NMDPRA is violating Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by issuing import licenses in the absence of a product shortfall. He called for the court to declare that NMDPRA is not fulfilling its legal obligations to support local refineries like Dangote.
However, in a statement issued by Anthony Chiejina, spokesperson for the Dangote Refinery, he said the suit was an old issue that started in June and culminated in a matter being filed on September 6, 2024
“The parties have been in discussion since President Bola Tinubu’s directive on Crude Oil and Refined products sales in the Naira Initiative, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC)”, stating, “We have made tremendous progress in that regard and events have overtaken this development”.
Chiejina stated that no party has been served with court processes and there is no intention of doing so as “We have agreed to put a halt to the proceedings”.
He explained further that no orders have been made and there are no adverse effects on any party.
” We understand that once the matter comes up in January 2025, we will be in a position to formally withdraw the matter in court”, he stated in the statement.
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