The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE has accused the Federal Government and its agencies of alleged deliberate sabotage, undermining its operations and frustrating its investment in Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector, an allegation the Federal Government denied.
In an affidavit filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking an interim injunction to stop the issuance and renewal of petroleum import licences, the company said its operations are anchored on crude oil supply arrangements with the NNPC, which it described as central to its refining business.
Dangote has publicly accused NNPC of sabotaging his $20 billion investment by denying the refinery adequate crude supplies and supporting competing fuel imports, even as the facility runs above its 650,000-barrel-per-day nameplate capacity.
NNPC hit back on multiple fronts. NNPC denied allegations that it had sabotaged Dangote’s refinery or deliberately withheld crude, saying crude allocations depended on operational, commercial, security, and logistical factors. It also said Dangote had not provided “credible, independent or verifiable evidence” that the refinery could meet Nigeria’s total fuel demand or guarantee uninterrupted nationwide supply.
NNPC accused Dangote Petroleum Refinery of seeking to restrict competition and expose the country’s fuel market to monopoly control by challenging import licences issued to rival marketers.
It argued that granting Dangote’s request to void or restrict import permits would expose Africa’s largest oil producer to supply disruptions, price instability, and risks to national energy security.
NNPC also declared that Dangote refinery’s petroleum products were already expensive and subject to price swings dictated by commercial interests, stating: “The plaintiff’s petroleum products are already sold at significantly high and fluctuating market prices, dictated by its commercial interests.”
Responding to the suit, NNPC said it would raise a preliminary objection challenging the competence of the suit and the refinery’s locus standi, declaring: “The plaintiff’s suit is premature; the plaintiff lacks locus standi.”
The court has scheduled a hearing in the coming weeks.