AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited have petitioned the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a lawsuit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.
In a combined counter affidavit dated November 5, 2024, and stamped FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, the marketers contended that allowing the refinery application would mean disaster for the country’s oil sector.
They stressed that the aim to monopolise the oil sector would lead to calamity in the country.
In its originating summons dated September 6, 2024, Dangote Refinery sued Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited as the first through seventh defendants, respectively.
The refinery asked the court to rule that NMDPRA violated Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by providing licenses for the importation of petroleum products.
It noted that such licenses should only be granted in cases where there is a petroleum product shortage.
It further asked the court to rule that the NMDPRA is violating its statutory duty under the PIA by not fostering local refineries like the firm.
Shafa, A. A. Rano, and Matrix Petroleum, however, argued that the Dangote refinery does not generate enough petroleum products for Nigerians’ daily usage.
They emphasised that the plaintiff had not presented any evidence in court to the contrary.
They maintained that they are adequately qualified and entitled to an import license from NMDPRA to import petroleum products into Nigeria under Section 317(9) of the PIA.
They also stated that they are completely qualified for the issuing of the import permits issued to them by the first defendant, having met all of the legal conditions for such licenses prior to their issuance.
“The import licenses lawfully and validly issued to the defendants did not, in any way whatsoever, cripple the plaintiff’s business or its refinery.
“The import licenses issued to the defendants by the 1st defendant are in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, and other relevant laws,” they contended.
They argued that giving Dangote Refinery monopoly control in Nigeria’s petroleum business, as requested in the current dispute, would eliminate competitive pricing of petroleum products in the country.
Stressing that such an act will exacerbate the country’s chronically weak economy.
They also mentioned that it would “unleash untold hardship on Nigerians, all of which constitute a recipe for disaster in the polity.”.
The marketers explained that if Nigeria puts all of its energy eggs in one basket by prohibiting the importation of petroleum products and allowing the plaintiff to be the sole producer and supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, with the freedom to set the prices at which the products are supplied, petroleum product prices will continue to rise and Nigeria will lose energy security.
They also stated that if the refinery fails as a monopolised industry, the country will be plunged into a heated mess of an energy crisis.
“That in the event of any breakdown in or obstruction to the production chain of the plaintiff that stops it from producing Nigeria, it will be thrown into an energy crisis because it does not have the reserves that would last it for at least 30 days that it would need to order, pay for, freight, and import refined products into tanks in Nigeria.
“That, amidst the glaring absence of any credible and demonstrable proof that the plaintiff refines and supplies adequate petroleum products for the daily use/consumption of Nigerians, is a recipe for disaster in Nigeria’s energy sector.”
They also informed the court that granting the plaintiff’s requested reliefs was intended to leave Nigeria and Nigerians at the plaintiff’s mercy in terms of the availability and cost of purchasing petroleum products in the country.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, has set January 20, 2025, as the deadline for a settlement or service report.
