The news that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has filed a fresh lawsuit seeking to set aside fuel import licences issued by the NMDPRA to marketers and the NNPC demands a clear response from this Association.
The import licences at the centre of this lawsuit are not administrative courtesies. They are the legal instruments through which Nigeria’s fuel supply chain functions. They were issued under a regulatory framework established by the Petroleum Industry Act, by an authority empowered to make exactly this kind of determination. The NMDPRA has consistently maintained, correctly, that these licences exist to protect supply security, not to disadvantage any single producer, however large.
DAPPMAN’s member companies have invested billions of naira in depot infrastructure, logistics networks, and compliance systems on the basis that their operating licences are valid, lawful, and durable. A legal action designed to retroactively void those licences does not just affect individual businesses, it introduces uncertainty into the entire downstream supply chain at a moment when Nigeria can least afford it.
We respect Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s right to pursue legal remedies. What we do not accept is the premise that a private refinery’s commercial interests should override a regulatory authority’s mandate to ensure adequate supply to Nigerian consumers. The PIA is clear: import licences may be issued where the regulator determines it necessary. That determination has been made. It has been defended in court before. It should be defended again.
Nigeria’s fuel market is not a monopoly waiting to happen. It is a competitive, multi-participant market that has taken years to build and that serves millions of Nigerians every day. DAPPMAN will be engaging legal counsel, coordinating with affected member companies, and making formal representations to the relevant authorities on this matter.
"Our members did not build this industry to watch it be argued out of existence in a courtroom. They built it to serve Nigeria. That is what they will continue to do, and DAPPMAN will stand behind every one of them through this process."
The downstream sector works because multiple players operate within it. A lawsuit that seeks to reduce that field of players is ultimately a lawsuit against Nigerian consumers.
Date: Sunday, 17th May 2026