Dangote Refinery has filed a petition with the Abuja branch of the Federal High Court to challenge the import licenses granted to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, and A. A. Rano.
In the petition, Dangote Refinery asserts that these companies were issued licenses to import petroleum products despite the refinery's production of AGO and Jet-A1 exceeding Nigeria's current daily consumption of petroleum products.
The case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, seeks N100 billion in damages from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). Dangote Refinery alleges that the NMDPRA has been improperly granting import licenses to the aforementioned companies for the importation of petroleum products, including AGO and jet fuel into Nigeria.
The defendants named 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.
Dangote Refinery's legal representative, Ogwu James Onoja, SAN, is seeking the court's determination that the NMDPRA is purportedly contravening Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by granting licenses for the importation of petroleum products. The refinery contends that such licenses should only be granted in situations where there is a shortage of petroleum products.
Moreover, Dangote Refinery has raised concerns that the import licenses issued by NMDPRA to other companies for the importation of AGO and Jet-A1 are significantly impeding its operations, in which it has made substantial financial investments amounting to billions of US dollars.
Dangote Refinery has also noted that its products have been overlooked due to the alleged actions taken by NMDPRA. Additionally, the refinery has expressed apprehensions regarding NMDPRA's intent to impose a 0.5% levy on wholesalers and off-takers, along with another 0.5% levy on wholesale transactions directed to the Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF), as stated in a letter dated June 10, 2024. The refinery asserts that these actions contradict statutory provisions regulating such levies.
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