Dangote Petroleum Refinery has filed a fresh lawsuit against the Attorney General of the Federation, challenging the issuance of petrol import licences to fuel marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
The legal action follows recent approvals granted by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to several marketers for the importation of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.
According to court documents cited by Reuters, the refinery is seeking to overturn import permits issued to the NNPC and a number of fuel traders.
This comes months after Dangote Refinery withdrew a similar suit in 2025 following intervention by the Federal Government.
President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has repeatedly maintained that fuel importation should no longer continue while his refinery has sufficient storage capacity and production output.
In the latest filing before the Federal High Court in Lagos, the refinery argued that the licences recently issued or renewed by the NMDPRA violate an earlier court directive to preserve the status quo.
However, regulators and fuel marketers have consistently defended petrol imports, insisting they remain necessary to ensure steady supply and avoid shortages across the country.
The NMDPRA recently approved licences for six marketers to import a combined 720,000 metric tonnes of petrol. The companies include NIPCO, AA Rano, Matrix, Shafa, Pinnacle, and Bono.
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Reports indicate that NIPCO is expected to import 120,000 metric tonnes, while AA Rano and Matrix were allocated 150,000 metric tonnes each. Shafa and Pinnacle received approvals for 120,000 metric tonnes each, while Bono was granted 60,000 metric tonnes.
An official of the regulatory authority reportedly confirmed the approvals but declined to speak publicly on the matter.
The development comes despite claims by the NMDPRA that Dangote Refinery currently supplies more than 90 per cent of Nigeria’s daily petrol demand.
Dangote Refinery, however, argued in the court filing that the approvals undermine its operations and conflict with provisions of the law, which it believes only permit fuel imports when local supply is insufficient.
Meanwhile, Aliko Dangote recently disclosed during an interview with Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund CEO, Nicolai Tangen, that the refinery is currently processing 661,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
“The refinery has been tested. We have now processed even crude at 661,000 barrels a day. So we have demonstrated that capability…” he said.
Dangote also spoke about the refinery’s crude sourcing strategy, noting that supplies are currently obtained from Nigeria, Angola, Libya, and the United States.
“We source about 56 per cent from Nigeria and some from Angola. We buy quite a bit from Angola, from Libya, and from the US. At one point, we were doing about seven to eight cargoes of WTI from the US. But we’re getting more of Nigeria’s crude now,” he said.
He further revealed plans to significantly expand the refinery’s capacity in the coming years.
“And we’re more than doubling the refinery. You know, in the next 30 months, we will be at 1.4 million barrels per day, which is huge,” Dangote added.
The billionaire businessman also alleged that certain groups benefiting from Nigeria’s former fuel subsidy system had attempted to frustrate the refinery’s operations.
“The Mafia are the people who are actually benefiting because Nigeria were giving out almost $10bn every year as a subsidy,” he said.
“There are shippers who are making tonnes of money. There are traders who are making a lot of money buying crude and sending us refined products. There are also the local people, because it was subsidised, very few people are getting allocations. So they are making billions of naira.”
“So, these are the people that did not want us to settle down because they believed that we were coming here to displace them, and of course, that’s what we have done now,” he added.