Fuel import: Abuja court ruling reopens battle over petroleum licences

A Federal High Court order directing the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to continue granting and renewing petroleum product import licences has opened a fresh battle over fuel imports as domestic refining capacity expands, Punch reports.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, presiding in Abuja, ordered the NMDPRA to continue issuing licences to Matrix Energy, A.A.

Rano Nigeria Limited and AYM Shafa Limited, ruling that the regulator’s refusal to do so was in “direct non-compliance” with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), and that any such refusal was “null and void.”

The three marketers, who say they have invested over $20bn in infrastructure, argued the PIA does not prohibit importation and that the NMDPRA is obligated to promote market competition.

The ruling comes as Dangote Refinery pursues a separate suit in Lagos, fixed for October 7, seeking to nullify import licences issued to NNPC and other marketers, arguing they breached an earlier status quo order.

PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry hailed the Abuja judgment as “a victory for the Nigerian people,” while IPMAN’s Chinedu Ukadike said marketers would simply buy from whichever supplier—Dangote or importers—offers the cheapest price.

Energy expert Dan Kunle called for an urgent PIA amendment, arguing the law predates Dangote’s refinery and no longer reflects economic reality, while CORAN Chairman Momoh Oyarekhua urged a gradual phase-out of imports tied to enforcement of the naira-for-crude policy.

Economist Mustafa Chike-Obi, meanwhile, argued domestic refineries should not get indefinite protection, adding that continued government spending on the ageing Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries risked becoming “a runaround” for diverting public funds.

With two courts of coordinate jurisdiction now ruling on the same issue, the dispute leaves Nigeria’s fuel import policy in legal limbo until the Lagos case is resolved.