A fresh battle has erupted in the downstream oil sector as depot owners and petroleum marketers pushed back against the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s suit seeking to stop the importation of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) into the country.
While members of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria said they would not fold their arms and allow their depots to go into extinction through a court ruling, their colleagues in the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria said the suit is unnecessary.
However, during a panel session at the 2026 Africa CEO Forum in Rwanda last week, President Bola Tinubu defended the Federal Government’s support for the Dangote refinery, saying he approved the naira-for-crude deal.
The development followed a new lawsuit filed by the $20bn Lekki-based refinery against the Federal Government over the issuance of petrol import licences to some fuel traders recently.
Latest court documents seen by Reuters showed that the refinery asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to void import permits granted by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to fuel importers, arguing that the licences violated existing regulations and an earlier court order to maintain the status quo.
The case is reopening a fierce debate in the oil sector over whether Nigeria should continue importing petrol despite the commencement of large-scale local refining by the Dangote refinery.
The PUNCH reports that the NMDPRA recently approved import licences for six companies to bring in about 720,000 metric tonnes of petrol. The marketers approved for the imports are NIPCO, AA Rano, Matrix Energy, Shafa, Pinnacle Oil, and Bono Energy.
Findings showed that NIPCO is expected to import 120,000 metric tonnes; AA Rano, 150,000 metric tonnes; Matrix, 150,000 metric tonnes; Shafa, 120,000 metric tonnes; Pinnacle, 120,000 metric tonnes; and Bono, 60,000 metric tonnes.
An official of the NMDPRA, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed that the licences were issued to complement local supply and forestall shortages. The regulator had repeatedly maintained that fuel imports remain necessary until domestic production can fully satisfy national demand sustainably.
However, the Dangote refinery argued in the suit that the continued issuance of import licences was undermining its operations and contradicted the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, which it said permits imports only in cases of supply shortfall.
The latest court action came months after Dangote withdrew a similar suit against the NNPC and some marketers following the Federal Government’s intervention.
An official of the Dangote Group told our correspondent anonymously that the suit is one of the options on the table as the NMDPRA resumed importation after the Q1 2026 break. The source alleged that the acting chief executive of the NMDPRA approved fresh licences after Saidu Mohammed was asked to go by President Bola Tinubu.
But the spokesman of the NMDPRA, George Ene-Ita, said the regulatory agency had yet to see the court papers. “We saw it in the public domain. But there’s been no summons to the authority,” Ene-Ita said over the weekend.
The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has insisted that there is no justification for continued fuel imports with his refinery now producing large volumes of petrol.
In a recent interview with the Chief Executive Officer of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund, Nicolai Tangen, Dangote disclosed that the refinery had increased production to 661,000 barrels per day, above its installed capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
“The refinery has been tested. We have now processed even crude at 661,000 barrels a day. So we have demonstrated that capability,” he said.
He added that the refinery currently sources about 56 per cent of its crude from Nigeria, while the balance comes from countries including Angola, Libya and the United States. Dangote also disclosed plans to expand the refinery’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day within the next 30 months.
Despite the refinery’s assurances, downstream operators said the legal move could create instability in the market and heighten fears of a monopoly.
Marketers kick
In a strongly worded statement on Sunday, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria faulted the lawsuit and warned against any attempt to weaken competition in the downstream sector. The association said the import licences being challenged were valid instruments issued under the Petroleum Industry Act and necessary for maintaining energy security.
“The import licences at the centre of this lawsuit are not administrative courtesies. They are the legal instruments through which Nigeria’s fuel supply chain functions. They were issued under a regulatory framework established by the Petroleum Industry Act, by an authority empowered to make exactly this kind of determination. The NMDPRA has consistently maintained, correctly, that these licences exist to protect supply security, not to disadvantage any single producer, however large,” DAPPMAN said.
The association added that its members had invested billions of naira in storage facilities, depots, logistics and distribution infrastructure based on the existing regulatory framework.
“DAPPMAN member companies have invested billions of naira in depot infrastructure, logistics networks, and compliance systems on the basis that their operating licences are valid, lawful, and durable. A legal action designed to retroactively void those licences does not just affect individual businesses; it introduces uncertainty into the entire downstream supply chain at a moment when Nigeria can least afford it,” the statement added.
The association maintained that though it respects Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s right to pursue legal remedies, what it does not accept is “the premise that a private refinery’s commercial interests should override a regulatory authority’s mandate to ensure adequate supply to Nigerian consumers”.
DAPPMAN argued, “The PIA is clear: import licences may be issued where the regulator determines it necessary. That determination has been made. It has been defended in court before. It should be defended again.”
It insisted that the downstream market should remain open and competitive rather than being controlled by a single dominant supplier. “Nigeria’s fuel market is not a monopoly waiting to happen. It is a competitive, multi-participant market that has taken years to build and that serves millions of Nigerians every day,” the association stated.
DAPPMAN further disclosed that it would engage lawyers and make formal representations to the relevant authorities over the matter. DAPPMAN will be engaging legal counsel, coordinating with affected member companies, and making formal representations to the relevant authorities on this matter.
“Our members did not build this industry to watch it be argued out of existence in a courtroom. They built it to serve Nigeria. That is what they will continue to do, and DAPPMAN will stand behind every one of them through this process.
“The downstream sector works because multiple players operate within it. A lawsuit that seeks to reduce that field of players is ultimately a lawsuit against Nigerian consumers,” the statement concluded.
Recall that Dangote and DAPPMAN have always been at loggerheads with each other over fuel pricing and importation. Aliko Dangote holds the view that the Nigerian petroleum sector is under the influence of those he calls ‘mafia’ who he says did not want the refinery to succeed due to the fear of being displaced.
Dangote named a category of those he called the ‘Mafia’, trying to sabotage the refinery, saying, ‘The Mafia are the people who are actually benefiting because Nigeria was giving out almost $10bn every year as a subsidy. There are shippers who are making tonnes of money. There are traders who are making a lot of money buying crude and sending us refined products.
“There are also the local people; because it was subsidised, very few people are getting allocations. So they are making billions of naira. So, these are the people that did not want us to settle down because they believed that we were coming here to displace them, and of course, that’s what we have done now,” he said.
The PUNCH reports that the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria also opposed the move by the refinery. Speaking with our correspondent, the Vice-President of IPMAN, Hammed Fashola, said Dangote should focus on pricing competitively instead of seeking legal restrictions against imports.
“To me, I don’t support that move of going to court. If he brings down his price to a reasonable level, importation would be difficult. It’s a simple thing to do,” Fashola said.
He warned that attempts to halt imports could fuel concerns about monopolies in the downstream sector. “At the beginning, that’s the fear of everybody: the fear of monopoly. If he’s doing that, it’s more or less driving at monopoly,” he added.
Fashola, however, acknowledged the positive impact of the Dangote refinery on fuel prices, especially amid the ongoing tensions in the Middle East. “If not for Dangote, maybe the PMS price would have gone to N3,000 per litre by now,” he said.
Also reacting, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said importation remained lawful under the deregulated downstream market framework.
He stated that while local refining should be prioritised, marketers must also be guaranteed product availability, transparent pricing, and seamless loading operations. “As far as PETROAN is concerned, the lawsuit is not a necessary action,” Gillis-Harry said.
He noted that marketers still experience delays in loading products after payment, arguing that such operational issues weaken claims that domestic supply is already sufficient. “Certainly, if we pay for a product today and we are not able to lift it today, it doesn’t guarantee that there is enough product,” he stated.
The renewed dispute is expected to intensify ongoing tensions between local refiners and fuel importers following the Federal Government’s push for deregulation of the downstream sector.
Tinubu’s support for Dangote
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu had recently defended the government’s support for the Dangote refinery during the Africa CEO Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, describing the refinery as strategic to Nigeria’s energy security.
“With the crisis around the world, particularly the Iran conflict, Nigeria won’t be able to survive with over 200 million people in peace without a refinery,” Tinubu had said.
The President also disclosed that the Federal Government granted support measures to the refinery, including crude supply in naira and trading licence waivers, to stabilise domestic fuel supply and reduce pressure on foreign exchange.
“A risk-taker like the Dangote refinery must be encouraged by the government. What I did to support him was give him trading licences and support him in the effort to source the crude that is necessary, and today, it is the net exporter of the PMS, aviation fuel, and other commodities.
“Dangote is being supported. My own formula is, like I said, put your money where your mouth is. I said, ‘What is the denominated currency in Nigeria?’ That is the naira. I have crude that you expect me to export in dollars. So I give you crude, as my local refinery, in naira. No letter of credit, no bank scrambling, and exchange rate instability. We solved a problem,” Tinubu said.
It is expected that the NMDPRA will have its new boss sworn in soon.
A Dangote spokesperson said the rent-seekers cannot salvage the nation, adding that the case is for the court to decide.
“Check out the current S&P report on Nigeria’s oil and gas. That is how to grow a nation. A nation does not survive on parasites.
“Rent-seekers can’t take the nation to enviable development heights. They create neither jobs nor wealth. They can’t salvage a nation at critical times. Nigerians now know who matters ever since the outset of this Middle Eastern crisis. They can’t be fooled anymore by these unpatriotic and unscrupulous elements,” the Dangote official said in a chat on Sunday.
