The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to continue issuing and renewing petroleum products import licences for Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano and AYM Shafa, provided the companies meet all statutory and regulatory requirements….
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to continue issuing and renewing petroleum products import licences for Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano and AYM Shafa, provided the companies meet all statutory and regulatory requirements.
Justice Inyang Ekwo, in his judgment on Monday according to a report by Nairametrics, held that the NMDPRA’s refusal to issue or renew the licences to the three oil marketers was in direct non-compliance with provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The court ruled that the PIA does not prohibit the importation of petroleum products or prevent the NMDPRA from granting licences to eligible importers.
Justice Ekwo further held that the NMDPRA was required under the PIA and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act to promote competition in the midstream and downstream petroleum sector and prevent abuse of dominant positions and restrictive business practices.
The judge declared that marketers who fulfil the conditions prescribed by the NMDPRA are entitled to the issuance, extension or renewal of petroleum products import licences.
He consequently directed the regulator to continue to grant, issue, extend, renew or reissue licences, permits and authorisations for midstream and downstream operations, particularly petroleum products importation, to the three plaintiffs upon fulfilment of all applicable statutory and regulatory conditions.
The case was instituted by Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano and AYM Shafa over the regulator’s refusal to regularly issue or renew their petroleum import licences.
Lead counsel to the plaintiffs, Raji Ahmed, SAN, argued that allowing both domestic production and imports where legally permitted would promote competition and help check monopoly and price-fixing in the petroleum market.
In an affidavit filed in the case, the Executive Director of A.A. Rano Nigeria Limited, Sabiu Saidu Mahuta, alleged that since July 2025, the NMDPRA had issued, extended or renewed the companies’ import licences only sporadically.
He said the three companies had collectively invested more than $20 billion in infrastructure, logistics and retail networks for their petroleum businesses.
The judgment comes amid a major shift in Nigeria’s fuel supply market following the increased contribution of local refineries, particularly the Dangote Refinery.
The refinery has separately challenged the continued issuance of petrol import licences by the NMDPRA in a suit pending before the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Dangote Refinery has argued that fuel imports should be permitted only where domestic supply is insufficient to meet demand. Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano and AYM Shafa have also sought to join that case.
The Abuja judgment, however, specifically addressed the rights of the three marketers to obtain petroleum products import licences subject to compliance with applicable laws and regulatory requirements.
