The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed March 18, 2025, to rule on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) preliminary objection challenging the competence of the N100 billion import license suit instituted by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE.
Justice Inyang Ekwo set the date for ruling after hearing oral submissions from the legal teams of Dangote Refinery, NNPCL, and other parties involved.
Naijaonpoint previously reported that, during court proceedings on January 30, 2025, NNPCL’s lawyer, Ademola Abimbola, SAN, opposed the refinery’s request to amend its court filings.
Dangote Refinery’s legal team had sought to correct a “clerical spelling” error in its filings.
However, the request could not be heard at the last Federal High Court session in Abuja due to NNPCL’s insistence on resolving its preliminary objection first.
Naijaonpoint previously reported that Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE filed a suit seeking to void import licenses issued to NNPCL, Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, A.A. Rano Limited, and four other companies for importing refined petroleum products.
Dangote Refinery’s suit claims that the continued importation of petroleum products persists “despite the production of AGO and Jet-A1 that exceeds the current daily consumption of petroleum products in Nigeria by the Dangote Refinery.”
However, the legal team representing Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, A.A. Rano Limited, and AYM Shafa Limited—led by Ahmed Raji, SAN—filed a motion urging the court to dismiss the suit.
Meanwhile, NNPCL’s counsel, Ademola Abimbola, SAN, filed a preliminary objection, arguing that the plaintiff erroneously sued “Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation,” a non-existent entity, instead of the correctly registered “Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.”
Abimbola further urged the court to rule that Dangote Refinery has no legal standing to institute this suit.
In its counter-affidavit and written address filed on Friday, and seen by Naijaonpoint, George Ibrahim argued that a close examination of the originating summons, affidavit, and attached documents clearly shows that the plaintiff’s grievance concerns the “flagrant disobedience of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by a statutory body created to implement the Act.”
“The NNPCL is merely a busybody and a meddlesome interloper, and its arguments on this issue should be disregarded,” he submitted.
At the resumed hearing on Wednesday, Abimbola urged the judge to affirm his objection and quash the refinery’s suit.
On his part, Ibrahim asked the court to dismiss NNPCL’s objection and allow the amendment of his originating processes and subsequent determination of his case.
After hearing submissions from both sides, the judge fixed March 18 for ruling.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, had previously expressed willingness to sell his multibillion-dollar refinery to NNPCL amid escalating disputes with regulators and equity partners.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, had previously expressed willingness to sell his multibillion-dollar refinery to NNPCL amid escalating disputes with regulators and equity partners.
Dangote had also accused other importers of bringing substandard petroleum products into Nigeria.
Naijaonpoint reported that the federal government later permitted marketers to purchase petroleum products directly from Dangote Refinery, following NNPCL’s decision to withdraw as an intermediary between the refinery and marketers.