The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has directed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority to resume the issuance of petroleum product import licences to Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano, and AYM Shafa.
Delivering judgment on Monday, Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled that the regulator’s refusal to grant and renew import permits for the three oil firms constituted “direct non-compliance” with the Petroleum Industry Act.
The suit was instituted by the companies through their legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Raji Ahmed alongside Chris Ekemezie, contesting the regulator’s stance on issuing and renewing import documentation. The claimants had asked the court to declare that the law does not prohibit fuel imports or restrict the authority from issuing import permits to qualifying firms.
Justice Ekwo concluded that the plaintiffs established their case on its merits, determining that the regulator acted outside statutory limits and that any regulatory action taken outside the framework of the governing legislation is “null and void.”
The court highlighted that “sections 31(a), (d), (l), 32(l), (s), (c), (u), (aa), (ii), (jj), and 211 of the PIA”, alongside Section 72 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, mandate the authority to foster competition, curb unfair dominance, and eliminate restrictive practices within the sector.
Consequently, the court ordered the regulatory agency to issue, renew, or extend operational permits and import authorisations to the claimants, provided they fulfill standard statutory requirements.
Supporting the suit, Sabiu Mahuta, Executive Director at A.A. Rano Nigeria Limited, stated in an affidavit that the authority had only sporadically issued or renewed import documentation for the claimants since July 2025. He noted that this practice was creating market dominance and promoting monopolisation by domestic 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,” Mahuta stated.
Legal counsel Raji Ahmed maintained before the court that allowing imports alongside domestic output encourages market competition, prevents price manipulation, and improves overall efficiency in the downstream sector.
The regulatory agency filed its legal responses during the proceedings. Conversely, Dangote Refinery has actively sought judicial intervention to cancel import permissions, arguing that the governing law permits imports only when domestic supply shortages occur. The refinery contends that ongoing imports jeopardize domestic investments and benefit overseas refiners.
The Abuja ruling unfolds alongside parallel legal proceedings between Dangote Refinery and the regulatory agency over import permits. A separate case initiated by Dangote Refinery against the agency and several fuel distributors is pending before the Federal High Court in Lagos. The suit challenges newly granted fourth-quarter 2026 import authorisations and is listed for a major hearing on October 7, 2026.
In March, the regulator eased import restrictions by granting fresh permissions to local distributors. Dangote Refinery subsequently launched suit FHC/L/CS/857/2026 two months later in Lagos against the authority, NNPC Limited, and several marketers including NIPCO, A.A. Rano, Matrix, Shafa, Pinnacle, and Bono, seeking to nullify the permits.
Despite the pending litigation, the regulator approved new import licences on September 23, covering 830,000 metric tonnes of petrol for the final quarter of 2026 to firms including Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano, AYM Shafa, NIPCO, Pinnacle Oil, and Bono Energy. Meanwhile, official regulatory data indicates that Nigeria’s average daily petrol imports dropped by 26 percent to 14.6 million litres in August.
