THE Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to continue granting petroleum products import licences to Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano and AYM Shafa.
The order, delivered on Monday by Justice Inyang Ekwo, held that the NMDPRA’s refusal to issue and renew licences for the three companies was in “direct non-compliance” with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
News Point Nigeria reports that the suit was filed by the three companies through their lawyers, Raji Ahmed, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and Chris Ekemezie, challenging the regulatory authority’s position on the issuance and renewal of petroleum products import licences.
The plaintiffs had sought a declaration that the PIA does not prohibit petroleum products imports or prevent the NMDPRA from granting or renewing import licences for eligible operators.
In his judgment, Justice Ekwo held that the plaintiffs had successfully established their case and that the suit succeeded on its merits.
The judge said the NMDPRA was acting beyond the provisions of the law, adding that the “consequence of non-compliance” with the PIA and other relevant laws renders any exercise by the authority concerning import licences “null and void.”
Ekwo also held that “sections 31(a), (d), (l), 32(l), (s), (c), (u), (aa), (ii), (jj), and 211 of the PIA”, read alongside Section 72 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, require the NMDPRA to promote competition in the midstream and downstream petroleum sector.
The judge said the provisions also require the authority to prevent abuse of dominant positions and restrictive business practices.
Consequently, the court ordered the NMDPRA to continue to grant, issue, extend, renew or reissue licences, permits and authorisations for midstream and downstream operations, particularly for the importation of petroleum products, to the plaintiffs, subject to their fulfilment of all statutory and regulatory requirements.
In an affidavit, Sabiu Mahuta, Executive Director of A.A. Rano Nigeria Limited, said the NMDPRA had, since July 2025, only sporadically granted, extended, renewed or reissued petroleum products import licences to the plaintiffs.
Mahuta said the authority’s action or inaction was entrenching market dominance and monopolisation of the downstream sector by local refineries.
“Collectively, the Plaintiffs have invested more than $20,000,000,000 [Twenty Billion United States of America Dollars] in infrastructure, logistics and retail networks for the smooth operations of their licensed petroleum products businesses,” he said.
Meanwhile, Raji urged the court to hold that petroleum products imports alongside local production would promote competition, check monopoly and price-fixing, and improve the midstream and downstream petroleum sector.
The NMDPRA’s legal team also filed its processes in the matter.
Conversely, Dangote has actively campaigned in court to void these import permits. The refinery maintains that under the PIA, import licences should only be granted if there is a domestic supply shortfall.
Because it produces a massive volume of petroleum products locally, Dangote claims that continued imports undermine domestic investments and favour foreign refineries.
The Abuja judgment comes amid a separate legal battle involving Dangote Refinery and the NMDPRA over petroleum products import licences.
A separate lawsuit filed by Dangote Refinery against the NMDPRA and fuel marketers is pending at the Federal High Court in Lagos. The case directly challenges the validity of newly issued Q4 2026 import permits and is scheduled for a major hearing on October 7, 2026.
On March 25, the NMDPRA eased petrol import restrictions by granting a new batch of licences to local marketers.
Two months later, Dangote Refinery filed a fresh suit at the Federal High Court in Lagos, challenging import licences issued or renewed by the NMDPRA for fuel marketers.
The suit, marked FHC/L/CS/857/2026, also involves NNPC Limited and several petroleum marketing companies, including NIPCO, A.A. Rano, Matrix, Shafa, Pinnacle and Bono. Dangote is seeking to invalidate the disputed licences.
However, the NMDPRA, on September 23, issued new import licences. The latest approvals covered 830,000 metric tonnes of petrol for the fourth quarter of 2026 and included Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano, AYM Shafa, NIPCO, Pinnacle Oil and Bono Energy.
Despite this, Nigeria’s daily average petrol imports fell by 26 percent to 14.6 million litres in August, according to the authority.