Oil import licence: Court slates Sept 29 to hear Dangote Refinery’s suit against NNPC

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has slated September 29 to hear a suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE against Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and others over an oil import licence dispute.

The trial Judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, fixed the date after counsel to Dangote Refinery, George Ibrahim, SAN, sought an adjournment to enable parties to regularise their processes, and the defence lawyer did not oppose the request.

The suit, which was formerly before Justice Inyang Ekwo, started afresh after it was reassigned to Justice Umar.

Dangote Refinery in its suit, listed the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), NNPCL, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited as 1st to 7th defendants respectively.

The oil company, through its lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, SAN, prayed the court to nullify oil import licences issued by NMDPRA to the NNPCL and the five other companies to import refined petroleum products.

When the matter was mentioned on Thursday for mention, Ibrahim informed the court that, “There are developments that took place in this matter, which is the fact that My Lord Justice Ekwo, who was in the matter before, granted an order for amendment which had been done”.

He said, though some of the defendants had regularised their processes, some were yet to do the needful, including the 1st defendant that was represented in court.

He informed the court that while the matter was before Justice Ekwo, the NNPCL served them with a notice of preliminary objection, which was refused by the court and that the NNPCL filed another preliminary objection in June and that they had joined issues with them.

Ibrahim, however, said that the corporation was not represented in court in Thursday’s proceeding and therefore, sought an adjournment to enable all the parties to regularise their processes.

NMDPRA’s lawyer, I.D. Ahmad did not oppose the application, but Basima Terhemba, who announced her appearance for the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), a party seeking to be joined, told the court that the organisation was interested in the case.

He said, though the court had earlier dismissed their application to be joined in the suit, the commission had appealed the ruling.

The lawyer said the matter touched on the core mandate of FCCPC, and if the case was decided without the commission’s involvement, it might not be in their interest.

Responding, Ibrahim said the former judge, in his ruling, held that the FCCPC was not a relevant party, describing the commission as “meddlesome interloper.”

He said the commission headed to the Court of Appeal and sought an order for a stay. Ibrahim urged the court to proceed with the hearing as the commission’s appeal had no substance.

Justice Umar agreed that filing the appeal should not stop the matter from being heard and subsequently adjourned the matter till September 29 for hearing. He also ordered that a hearing notice be issued and served on the defendants.

Dangote Refinery had, in the suit, prayed the court to declare that NMDPRA violated Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by issuing oil import licences for the importation of petroleum products, stating that, such licenses should only be issued in circumstances where there is a petroleum product shortfall.

It equally sought N100 billion in damages against NMDPRA for allegedly continuing to issue import licences to NNPCL and the five companies for importing petroleum products, among other reliefs.

The NNPCL, in its preliminary objection, prayed the court to strike out the case for being incompetent. It argued that the suit was premature and disclosed no cause of action against it.

NMDPRA, in its counter affidavit deposed to by Idris Musa, a Senior Regulatory Officer in the office, prayed the court to dismiss the suit as it was misconceived, unmeritorious and incompetent.

Musa argued that Dangote Refinery is not entitled to any of the reliefs sought and added that the current production of Dangote Refinery is yet to meet the national daily petroleum products sufficiency requirement.

He said, based on this and in compliance with Section 317 [9] of the PIA (Petroleum Industry Act), NMDPRA issued licences to import petroleum products to bridge product shortfalls to companies with good track records of international products trading.

Besides, he said the agency is also mandated to promote competition and prevent abuse of dominant market positions and unhealthy monopoly in the oil and gas sector.

He denied the allegation that NMDPRA is partaking in any purported “grand conspiracy and concerted efforts” against the refinery, describing it as “an allegation for which the plaintiff has provided no facts or evidence in support.”

The oil marketers, in a joint counter affidavit, told the court that granting Dangote’s application would spell doom for the country’s oil sector.

According to them, the plan to monopolise the oil sector is a recipe for disaster in the country.

The three marketers, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, in their response, said the plaintiff did not produce adequate petroleum products for the daily consumption of Nigerians.

They argued that there was nothing placed before the court to prove the contrary.

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