Three major oil marketers Matrix Energy, AA Rano and AYM Shafa have applied to be joined as defendants in the fresh lawsuit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery seeking to invalidate petroleum-product import licences and recover ₦100 billion in damages.
The application is contained in a Motion on Notice dated June 16, 2026, filed before the Federal High Court in Lagos by their lawyers, Ahmed Raji, SAN, and Sir Chris Ekemezie.
Dangote Refinery instituted the action against the Attorney-General of the Federation, asking the court to nullify all petroleum import licences issued or renewed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority where there is no shortfall in domestic supply.
The refinery is also seeking an order sealing tank farms, storage facilities, warehouses and filling stations used by licence holders to store imported petroleum products in circumstances where local production is sufficient to meet national demand.
Matrix Energy, AA Rano and AYM Shafa asked the court to join them as necessary parties, arguing that the suit could not be fairly and conclusively determined without hearing from companies directly affected by the reliefs sought.
The marketers maintained that they and other licensed operators had invested more than $20 billion in infrastructure, logistics and retail networks supporting the importation and distribution of petroleum products across Nigeria.
They said they had operated under licences issued by the NMDPRA for more than two decades, long before Dangote Refinery entered the downstream petroleum sector.
According to the applicants, any order invalidating their licences, sealing their facilities or preventing them from importing products would directly affect their businesses, workers and investments.
The three companies alleged that Dangote Refinery had, since commencing operations, consistently pushed for the termination of petroleum-product imports into Nigeria.
They cited calls by the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, for refined petroleum products to be included among items restricted under the Federal Government’s “Nigeria First” policy.
The marketers argued that the fresh suit was intended to force competing businesses out of the downstream market and establish a monopoly allegedly prohibited by the Petroleum Industry Act.
They warned that granting the refinery’s prayers could have far-reaching consequences for their employees, the petroleum industry and the Nigerian economy.
The applicants also asked the court to hold that the fresh action constituted an abuse of court process because of an earlier import-licence suit instituted by Dangote Refinery.
Court documents reportedly showed that Dangote Refinery had, in April 2026, filed an ex parte application seeking an interim injunction restraining the AGF, NMDPRA, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited from issuing or renewing petroleum-product import licences pending the determination of its substantive application.
Justice C.J. Aneke, however, directed the parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the Motion on Notice filed alongside the ex parte application.
Dangote Refinery subsequently accused the NMDPRA of continuing to issue import licences despite the subsisting order, describing the action as an active breach of the court’s directive.
The matter has been adjourned until October 7, 2026.
Dangote Refinery argued that the continued issuance of import licences violated Nigerian law because petroleum products should only be imported when domestic production is insufficient to satisfy national demand.
The suit followed regulatory figures indicating that Nigeria’s dependence on imported petrol declined significantly in the first quarter of 2026 as production from domestic refineries increased.
Petrol imports reportedly fell to approximately 965.52 million litres in the first quarter of 2026, compared with about 2.43 billion litres during the corresponding period of 2025, representing a year-on-year reduction of 60.2 per cent.
Local refinery supply reportedly increased from 1.996 billion litres in the first quarter of 2025 to 3.179 billion litres in the same period of 2026, representing an increase of 59.2 per cent.
Domestic refineries consequently supplied approximately 76.7 per cent of Nigeria’s petrol requirements during the first quarter of 2026, compared with 45.2 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025.
This is not the first time Dangote Refinery has challenged petroleum import licences issued to major marketers.
In 2025, the refinery filed a similar action seeking to nullify licences granted to NNPC Limited, AYM Shafa, AA Rano, T. Time Petroleum, 2015 Petroleum and Matrix Petroleum Services.
It also sought ₦100 billion in damages in that suit but subsequently discontinued the action in July 2025.
The fresh proceedings have renewed the legal and commercial dispute over the extent to which petroleum imports should continue as domestic refinery output rises and Nigeria’s longstanding dependence on imported fuel declines.
