Dangote Refinery has withdrawn its ₦100 billion lawsuit against Nigeria’s petroleum regulator and several fuel importers, including the state-owned NNPC Ltd.
The refinery, Africa’s largest had earlier filed the case to challenge the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for issuing fuel import licenses to NNPC Ltd and five other companies, AYM Shafa Ltd, A.A. Rano Ltd, T. Time Petroleum Ltd, 2015 Petroleum Ltd, and Matrix Petroleum Services Ltd, according to Reuters.
In the suit filed at the Federal High Court, Dangote argued that the NMDPRA violated the law by continuing to grant gasoline import permits to NNPC and other fuel marketers.
The company stated that fuel imports are only permitted to cover production shortfalls, a condition it claims no longer applies since its refinery is now operational.
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Dangote Refinery was seeking ₦100 billion ($66 million) in damages, alleging that regulators continued to approve import licenses for products like Automotive Gas Oil (diesel) and Jet A1 (aviation turbine fuel) even with sufficient local refining capacity.
NNPC Ltd opposed the case, filing a legal response asking the court to dismiss it.
Three of the oil marketers, AYM Shafa Ltd, A.A. Rano Ltd, and Matrix Petroleum Services Ltd, also contested the suit.
They were represented by senior advocate Ahmed Raji (SAN), who argued in a joint counter-affidavit that granting Dangote’s request would harm Nigeria’s oil sector.
In March, the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled to allow the case to proceed, dismissing the objections raised by the defendants.
However, despite this decision, Dangote Refinery has now pulled out of the lawsuit.
In a notice of discontinuance filed on Monday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the refinery’s lawyer, Ogwu Onoja, wrote: “Take notice that the plaintiff herein discontinues this suit against the defendants forthwith.”
No reason or explanation was provided for the decision to withdraw the case.
Even though the suit has been dropped, the court is still expected to meet on September 29.
At that time, the defendants may choose to recover legal costs or allow the matter to be struck out without further consequences.
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