The Federal High Court Abuja has dismissed the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s (FCCPC) request to join and challenge Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE’s N100 billion import license lawsuit.
Justice Inyang Ekwo dismissed FCCPC’s joinder request on Tuesday while ruling on its application to join and prove Dangote’s alleged planned monopoly in the oil and gas sector.
The pending suit by Dangote Refinery, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, seeks to void import licenses issued to some Nigerian oil companies by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
These companies include the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, A.A. Rano Limited, and four others.
In its motion and accompanying processes exclusively seen by Nairametrics, the FCCPC legal team, led by Barrister Olarenwaju Osinaike, had stated that FCCPC is seeking to be joined as a necessary party to the present proceedings because its interest would allegedly be affected by the outcome of the suit
Ruling on the joinder application by FCCPC, Ekwo said while the law allows a necessary party to join a case, that party must prove its relevance in the matter.
The trial court had earlier dismissed a preliminary objection by the NNPCL against Dangote Refinery, adding that the application was incompetent.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote had announced his willingness to sell his multibillion-dollar refinery to NNPCL, amid escalating disputes with regulators and equity partners, last year.
Dangote had previously accused other importers of bringing substandard petroleum products into Nigeria.
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