THE Federal High Court in Abuja has postponed a case initiated by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, which seeks to prevent the issuance of oil import licenses to certain oil marketing companies, until January 30th for a hearing.
Naija News understands that the hearing, chaired by Justice Inyang Ekwo, which was originally scheduled to take place, could not proceed due to Dangote Refinery’s delay in serving its amended originating summons to the defendants.
Dangote Refinery has named the NMDPRA and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) as the 1st and 2nd defendants in the case.
Additionally, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited have been included as the 3rd to 7th defendants in the originating summons, which is marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024 and dated September 6.
The oil company is seeking a court ruling to invalidate the import licenses granted by NMDPRA to NNPCL and the five other companies for the importation of refined petroleum products.
Furthermore, Dangote is requesting the court to declare that NMDPRA has violated Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by issuing licenses for petroleum product importation, which should only occur in situations of product shortages.
The company is also claiming ₦100 billion in damages against NMDPRA for allegedly continuing to issue import licenses to NNPCL and the five companies for importing petroleum products, among other requests.
During the proceedings, the plaintiff’s counsel, George Ibrahim, informed the court that the session was set for a report on settlement or service.
However, he noted that they had been unable to proceed with serving the necessary documents, and discussions regarding reconciliation had not yet taken place due to a motion filed to amend their originating summons, which was prompted by an error identified in the initial application.
Argument Between Counsels
Counsel for NMDPRA, Mathew Bukar, SAN; representing the 3rd, 4th, and 7th defendants (AYM Shafa, A.A. Rano Limited, and Matrix Limited), Ahmed Raji, SAN; and counsel for the 5th and 6th defendants (T. Time Petroleum and 2015 Petroleum Limited), Divine Oguru, informed the court that they had not yet received the plaintiff’s application.
