A Federal High Court in Lagos has restrained the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority from enforcing its directive suspending the loading and truck out of petroleum products from Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Justice Akintayo Aluko issued the interim injunction on Monday following an ex parte application filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE in suit No. FHC/L/CS/1174/2026.
The court also restrained NMDPRA, its officers, agents and representatives from entering, sealing, shutting down, restricting access to, obstructing, suspending, disrupting, inspecting, supervising, sanctioning or otherwise interfering with the refinery’s operations at the Lekki Free Zone pending the determination of the refinery’s motion on notice.
The order followed a fresh legal confrontation between the refinery and the petroleum regulator over the extent of NMDPRA’s regulatory powers within free zones.
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Dangote Refinery is challenging an August 24, 2026 directive issued by NMDPRA suspending the loading and truck out of petroleum products from its facilities. The refinery’s legal team was led by Senior Advocates of Nigeria Olawale Akoni and Abimbola Akeredolu.
Moving the application, Akeredolu relied on a 42 paragraph affidavit deposed to by Wale Aroge, a written address and documentary exhibits marked A1 to A6.
In his ruling, Justice Aluko said the materials before the court raised serious issues requiring judicial determination, particularly whether NMDPRA possesses regulatory or oversight powers over operations within free zones.
The judge referred to a March 2, 2026 letter from the Attorney General of the Federation which, according to him, “clearly stated” that NMDPRA was not entitled to exercise regulatory powers or oversight functions over operations within free zones.
Aluko also considered NMDPRA’s August 24 letter through which the regulator purported to exercise such powers, noting that the central issue was whether the authority should be allowed to exercise the disputed regulatory powers while the substantive case remained pending.
The judge held that the depositions contained in Dangote’s affidavit disclosed “serious issues for determination” and demonstrated an urgent need for judicial intervention to preserve the subject matter of the dispute.
He said Dangote had satisfied the legal conditions for an interim injunction and took note of the refinery’s undertaking to indemnify NMDPRA in damages if it was subsequently determined that the order should not have been granted.
“Accordingly, I find merit in the application, and the same is hereby granted in terms of the reliefs sought,” Aluko ruled.
The judge directed Dangote to file a formal undertaking as to damages and ordered that the interim order and notice of the court be served on NMDPRA. He adjourned the matter until September 9, 2026, for hearing of the motion on notice.
The latest ruling is separate from another legal battle involving Dangote Refinery’s challenge to the issuance and renewal of fuel import licences to NNPC Limited and several petroleum marketers.
That suit, filed as FHC/L/CS/857/2026, came up before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on Monday but was adjourned until October 7 following the judge’s absence due to indisposition.
Dangote is challenging the licences, arguing that their issuance and renewal undermine domestic refining and violate its interpretation of Section 317(9) of the Petroleum Industry Act, which it contends permits petroleum product imports only where there is a proven domestic supply shortfall.
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NNPC Limited has opposed the position, arguing that the PIA and the Federal Government’s Backward Integration Policy do not impose a blanket ban on petroleum imports and that imports remain necessary where required to guarantee national supply security and stabilise prices.
The two cases underline the growing regulatory and commercial battle over the future structure of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum market, particularly the balance between domestic refining, fuel imports, regulatory oversight and the country’s transition away from longstanding dependence on imported petroleum products.
