Nigeria’s battle over who controls the country’s petrol market has exploded into a fresh legal and commercial confrontation, with a Federal High Court in Abuja ordering the continued issuance and renewal of fuel-import licences even as Dangote Petroleum Refinery battles the practice before another Federal High Court in Lagos.
The Abuja ruling has strengthened the position of petroleum marketers seeking continued access to imported products and intensified pressure on the Federal Government to clarify how Nigeria should manage imports now that large-scale domestic refining has become a reality.
At stake is a multibillion-dollar market and a fundamental policy question: should Nigeria keep the door open to imported petrol, or shield its emerging domestic refining industry from foreign competition?
The dispute has already spilled into two courts, with marketers defending imports as essential to competition while domestic refiners argue that unrestricted imports could undermine billions of dollars invested in local production.
Court orders continued licences
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja ruled that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority acted outside the law in its handling of import-licence applications by Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano Nigeria Limited and AYM Shafa Limited.
The judge held that the Petroleum Industry Act does not prohibit the importation of petroleum products and that the regulator has an obligation to promote competition in the midstream and downstream sectors.
Justice Ekwo ordered the NMDPRA to “continue to grant, issue, extend, renew, or reissue” licences and other authorisations for petroleum operations, particularly those relating to imports.
The order remains subject to the companies meeting applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
The marketers had complained that their import licences were being issued or renewed only sporadically since July 2025.
They argued that restricting imports could allow dominant players to control the market and ultimately influence prices.
The companies also told the court that they had invested more than $20bn in infrastructure, logistics and retail networks.
23.2bn litres imported
The court battle comes against the backdrop of massive petrol imports.
Between January and August 2026, Nigeria imported about 23.2 billion litres of petrol, averaging 95.7 million litres daily.
The NMDPRA has also approved another 830,000 metric tonnes of petrol imports for the fourth quarter, with Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano and AYM Shafa among six companies granted permits.
The figures show why the issue has become so politically and commercially sensitive.
For importers, access to licences protects competition and provides another source of petrol.
For domestic refiners, continued imports threaten to eat into the market they have spent billions of dollars developing.
Dangote takes battle to Lagos
While the Abuja court backed the marketers’ position, the Dangote refinery is pursuing a contrasting legal challenge in Lagos.
In suit No. FHC/L/CS/857/2026, Dangote is asking the Federal High Court in Lagos to nullify import licences allegedly issued or renewed around May 6, 2026, in favour of the NNPC and several marketers, including NIPCO, A.A. Rano, Matrix, Shafa, Pinnacle and Bono.
The refinery also contends that the licences were issued in breach of an earlier order directing parties to maintain the status quo pending determination of the case.
The Lagos court has fixed October 7 for hearing.
The clash has now created a complicated legal landscape, with courts of coordinate jurisdiction dealing with disputes arising from the same wider regulatory battle.
Dangote was not a party to the Abuja proceedings, adding another complication to the competing legal positions.
Marketers: Let the market decide
Petroleum marketers have seized on the Abuja ruling as support for an open and competitive market.
PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry said continued access to multiple sources of supply would help improve availability and affordability.
He called for import licences to be made available to any company with the capacity to import and supply the Nigerian market.
IPMAN spokesman Chinedu Ukadike also said marketers would continue to buy from whichever supplier offered the most competitive price.
His position was blunt: if Dangote’s petrol is cheaper, marketers will buy from Dangote; if imported petrol is cheaper, they will buy imports.
That argument places price at the centre of the battle.
But domestic refiners and their supporters contend that market forces cannot be viewed in isolation from the enormous investment required to build refining capacity in Nigeria.
Refiners demand import restrictions
The Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria is calling for a gradual reduction of petrol imports, with imports eventually limited to genuine domestic supply gaps and strategic stock requirements.
CORAN Chairman Momoh Oyarekhua said Nigeria could not continue exporting crude, jobs and foreign exchange while importing refined products despite growing local refining capacity.
But he identified a major obstacle: some domestic refineries are struggling to secure crude at commercially viable prices.
CORAN wants stronger enforcement of the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation under Section 109 of the PIA and transparent access to crude for qualifying domestic refineries.
It also wants the naira-for-crude policy fully institutionalised, alongside crude swaps and supply arrangements that allow nearby refineries to access nearby crude without unnecessary transportation costs.
Experts split over protection
Energy expert Dan Kunle believes the legal framework itself needs to change.
He argues that the PIA was enacted before Nigeria had a mega-scale private refinery capable of supplying a significant share of domestic demand.
His proposal is for Parliament to amend the law and make petrol-import approvals discretionary, allowing imports mainly when domestic production cannot meet national requirements.
Economist Mustafa Chike-Obi takes a different view.He has argued that domestic refineries should not enjoy unlimited protection from imports. For him, protection must have a defined timeframe, after which refiners should compete on price and quality. The disagreement captures the central dilemma facing policymakers.
Protect local refining too much, and consumers could lose the benefits of competition. Leave imports completely open, and domestic refineries could struggle to compete after billions of dollars have been invested in building them.
The battle is bigger than petrol
The fight is no longer simply about import licences.
It is about who controls Nigeria’s fuel supply chain—and what kind of petroleum market the country wants to build.
The Abuja ruling has strengthened the importers’ legal position, at least for now. The pending Lagos case could produce another significant interpretation.
Meanwhile, refiners want the Government to create conditions that make local production commercially sustainable, particularly through reliable access to crude.
Marketers insist they must remain free to buy wherever prices are competitive.
Consumers, ultimately, are watching the pump price.
With billions of litres of petrol moving through the market and billions of dollars riding on the outcome, Nigeria’s fuel-import dispute is heading toward a showdown that could redefine the country’s downstream petroleum industry.
The question is no longer whether Nigeria can refine its own petrol. The question is who gets to decide when imported petrol should be allowed to compete with it.
Fuel Import Row: Court Ruling Deepens Dangote–Marketers Battle
