Abuja Court Throws Out Dangote’s ₦100bn Suit Against NNPCL
Abuja Court Throws Out Dangote’s ₦100bn Suit Against NNPCL
The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a ₦100 billion suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other defendants over an oil import licence dispute.
Justice Mohammed Umar dismissed the case after Dangote’s counsel, C.O. Adegbe, withdrew it during Wednesday’s proceedings. The defence lawyers urged the court to dismiss, not strike out, the suit, arguing that the refinery intended to “repackage its case.”
Dangote had sued the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), NNPCL, and five oil marketers — AYM Shafa, A.A. Rano, T. Time Petroleum, 2015 Petroleum, and Matrix Petroleum Services — seeking ₦100 billion in damages and nullification of import licences granted to them.
The refinery claimed NMDPRA violated Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by issuing the licences despite no confirmed product shortfall.
NNPCL and the other defendants, however, argued the suit was incompetent and premature, with NNPCL insisting it was wrongly sued under a non-existent corporate name.
Justice Umar held that since issues had already been joined, the proper order was dismissal, not striking out. He therefore dismissed the case without cost.
