VANGUARD
Three major oil marketers in the country, yesterday, asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop what they described as plot by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE, to monopolise the energy sector of the economy.
The marketers, including AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, maintained that allowing Dangote Refinery to takeover the oil sector would spell doom for the country.
However, efforts made to reach the Group Head, Communications, Dangote Group, Mr. Anthony Chiejina, last night, were unsucces-sful as several calls made to his known mobile phone were unanswered, while text and WhatsApp messages were not also responded to at press time.
The companies took the position in a reply they filed to challenge the competence of the suit Dangote’s firm filed to nullify licenses they secured to import refined petroleum products into the country.
The marketers were cited as defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, which also has the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPC, as defendants.
It will be recalled that Dangote Refinery had, in its suit, queried the propriety of licences issued to other key oil marketers to bring refined petroleum products into the country when it has not recorded any shortfall in its own operations.
According to the plaintiff, NMDPRA acted in breach of Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, by issuing licenses for the importation of petroleum products to the defendants.
The plaintiff told the court that the licences were issued to the defendants, “despite the production of AGO and Jet-A1 that exceeds the current daily consumption of petroleum products in Nigeria by Dangote Refinery.”
It, therefore, prayed the court to award N100billion in damages against the NMDPRA for allegedly continuing to issue import licenses to NNPCL and the other defendants for…
