Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE has taken legal action against the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in the Federal High Court in Abuja. They want the court to cancel all recent licences given by NMDPRA for importing petroleum products into Nigeria.
The case, numbered FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, claims that NMDPRA broke the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by giving import licences to several companies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited. This happened even though Dangote Refinery’s production is more than enough to meet Nigeria’s daily needs for petroleum products.
Dangote Refinery is asking for N100 billion in compensation from NMDPRA and wants several things, like saying that NMDPRA giving out import licences breaks the rules, stopping NMDPRA from giving out or renewing import licences, and saying that the refinery doesn’t have to pay federal, state, or local taxes because it’s in a Free-Zone.
The refinery’s Group General Manager of Government and Strategic Relations, Ahmed Hashem, said in a statement that NMDPRA’s actions are hurting Dangote Refinery’s business and investments. He also said that the refinery’s products aren’t selling well due to NMDPRA’s alleged actions.
