The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has adjourned the suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited NNPCL and others over an oil import licence dispute until November 5 for hearing.
The case, earlier scheduled for hearing on Wednesday, could not proceed due to the absence of Justice Mohammed Umar, the presiding judge, who was reportedly sitting at the Enugu Division of the court.
Consequently, the court fixed a new date, November 5, for the continuation of proceedings.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria Justice Umar had previously directed all parties on July 10 to regularise their legal processes and serve hearing notices on absent defendants.
The matter, which initially came before Justice Inyang Ekwo, is now starting de novo (afresh) following its reassignment to Justice Umar.
Dangote Refinery had dragged the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and NNPCL to court as first and second defendants, respectively, over alleged irregularities in the issuance of oil import licences.
Also joined in the suit are AYM Shafa Limited, A.A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited as third to seventh defendants.
The refinery, through its counsel, Ogwu Onoja SAN, asked the court to nullify the import licences issued by NMDPRA to the NNPCL and the five oil marketing firms for the importation of refined petroleum products.
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It further argued that NMDPRA’s action violated Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act, which restricts the issuance of import licences to situations where there is an established shortfall in local production.
The plaintiff also sought ₦100 billion in damages against the regulatory authority for allegedly breaching the law and undermining local refining efforts.
In its preliminary objection, the NNPCL urged the court to dismiss the case, describing it as “incompetent and premature.”
The company argued that the entity sued by Dangote “Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited”did not legally exist, and therefore, the court lacked jurisdiction.
An affidavit by Isiaka Popoola, a clerk at Afe Babalola & Co, stated that a search on the Corporate Affairs Commission website confirmed there was no registered entity under that name.
Similarly, the NMDPRA, in a counter affidavit deposed to by Idris Musa, a Senior Regulatory Officer, asked the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as misconceived, unmeritorious, and baseless.
Musa maintained that Dangote Refinery’s production output had not met national demand, justifying the agency’s decision to grant import licences to other companies to bridge supply shortfalls in line with the PIA.
He added that the authority’s actions were consistent with its mandate to promote competition and prevent monopolistic dominance in the downstream oil sector.
The oil marketers AYM Shafa, A.A. Rano, and Matrix Petroleum n their joint counter affidavit, argued that granting Dangote’s request to cancel import licences would cripple the nation’s fuel supply chain.
They contended that Dangote’s refinery was yet to produce sufficient quantities to meet the daily petroleum product needs of Nigerians, adding that the company presented no evidence to the contrary.
Justice Ekwo, who previously presided over the case, had on March 18 dismissed NNPCL’s objection, ruling that the company’s application was incompetent and that it ought to have first filed a counter affidavit before raising jurisdictional issues.
He also granted Dangote’s request to amend its originating process to correct the misnomer in NNPCL’s name and dismissed a motion for joinder by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission describing the agency as a “meddlesome interloper.”
With the case now before Justice Umar, the legal battle between Dangote Refinery, NNPCL, and oil marketers resumes in November, in what could be a defining moment for Nigeria’s evolving downstream petroleum sector.
