Marketers fight Dangote over plans to block petrol import permits

• Say Nigerians’ interest must triumph any single player

By Adewale Sanyaolu

A fresh crisis is brewing in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector over a lawsuit instituted by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery asking the court to nullify import permits issued or renewed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and marketers.

The refinery is insisting that the approvals violate an earlier court order directing parties to maintain the status quo.

The latest suit signals renewed tension in Nigeria’s downstream oil sector, barely one year after the refinery withdrew an earlier case challenging similar import approvals issued to NNPC and some fuel traders.

But the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has fired back by defending the continued issuance of fuel import licences by NMDPRA, insisting that the move remains critical to the country’s energy security despite an ongoing legal challenge by Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

DAPPMAN in a statement reacting to the purported lawsuit argued that the licences were not issued arbitrarily, but backed by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and designed to safeguard Nigeria’s fuel supply chain.

The marketers’ body maintained that the NMDPRA, as the industry regulator, possesses the legal authority to determine when import licences are necessary in the national interest. According to the association, the regulator had consistently maintained that such approvals exist primarily to protect supply security and should not be viewed as measures targeting any individual producer, regardless of size or market influence.

DAPPMAN further disclosed that its member companies had invested billions of naira in depot infrastructure, logistics networks, and compliance systems based on the understanding that their operating licences were lawful and enforceable. It warned that any attempt to retroactively invalidate those licences could create uncertainty across the downstream petroleum sector and threaten fuel supply stability at a time the country could ill afford disruptions.

While acknowledging Dangote refinery’s right to seek legal redress, the association rejected what it described as the notion that the commercial interests of a private refinery should supersede the statutory responsibilities of the regulator.

It stressed that the PIA clearly empowers the NMDPRA to approve fuel imports whenever the regulator deems such action necessary.

DAPPMAN also noted that the issue had previously been tested in court and defended successfully, adding that the regulator’s position should once again be upheld in the interest of maintaining stability in Nigeria’s downstream oil and gas industry.

The association lamented further that Nigeria’s fuel market is not a monopoly waiting to happen. Rather, it said, it is a competitive, multi-participant market that has taken years to build that serves millions of Nigerians everyday.

“DAPPMAN will be encouraging legal counsel, coordinating with affected member companies,and making formal representations to the relevant authorities on the matter.

Our members did not build this industry to watch it be argued out of existence in a courtroom. They build 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 Nigerians,”

Dangote Refinery, at the weekend, dragged the Attorney General of the Federation before a Federal High Court in Lagos. Dangote, in the court documents, maintained that the fresh licences issued this month threaten its operations and run contrary to the law, which it said only permits fuel importation where local supply is insufficient.

The refinery had in July 2025 quietly discontinued its earlier suit without giving reasons, leaving unresolved concerns over market competition and fuel supply in one of Africa’s biggest petroleum markets.

The latest disagreement comes shortly after the NMDPRA granted import licences to six marketers to bring in 720,000 metric tonnes of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.

The marketers include: NIPCO, AA Rano, Matrix, Shafa, Pinnacle and Bono.

According to the allocations, NIPCO is to import 120,000 metric tonnes; AA Rano, 150,000MT; Matrix, 150,000MT; Shafa, 120,000MT; Pinnacle, 120,000MT; while Bono will import 60,000MT, bringing the total approved volume to 720,000MT.

The approvals also came amid claims by the NMDPRA that Dangote Refinery currently supplies more than 90 per cent of Nigeria’s daily petrol consumption.