Dangote Petroleum Refinery has filed a new lawsuit against Nigeria’s attorney general in a bid to overturn fuel import licences issued to marketers and the NNPC state oil firm, according to court documents seen by Reuters. The case signals renewed tensions almost a year after Dangote withdrew an earlier lawsuit challenging similar licences.
Dangote Refinery had in July 2025 dropped its earlier lawsuit which had also sought to nullify import permits issued to NNPC and several private traders without providing any reason for the withdrawal. That case had also sought N100 billion in damages and argued that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority was violating the Petroleum Industry Act by continuing to issue import licences despite the refinery’s capacity to meet local demand.
In the original case filed in September 2024, according to Sahara Reporters, Dangote’s lawyers argued that the regulatory authority violated sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act by failing to prioritise local refineries. The marketers had countered that Dangote was seeking a monopoly, while the NMDPRA maintained that the refinery could not meet national demand and that the licences were issued to bridge supply gaps.
The new lawsuit, now directed at the attorney general rather than the NMDPRA, represents a significant escalation in legal strategy taking the fight to the highest law officer of the federation rather than the regulatory body.
According to Channels Television, the refinery has maintained that fuel imports are only legally permissible to cover production shortfalls, and that with its 650,000 barrels per day capacity now fully operational, no such shortfall exists.
Critics and competing marketers have argued that without imports, one private entity would effectively control Nigeria’s entire fuel supply chain, a position Dangote has consistently rejected.
Further details of the new lawsuit, including the specific reliefs sought and the presiding court, are expected to emerge as the case proceeds.
