A legal dispute has emerged in Nigeria’s petroleum sector, with Dangote Petroleum Refinery manoeuvring through judicial channels to challenge import licenses and correct procedural details in an ongoing court case against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The refinery’s latest legal move involves a precise amendment to its original court filing, seeking to correct the defendant’s name from “Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited” to “Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.” This seemingly minor change underscores the intricate legal strategies at play.
Filed by lawyer Ogwu Onoja on November 25 and submitted to the federal high court in Abuja, the motion reveals a nuanced legal battle beyond mere nomenclature. Vincent Sani, a litigation clerk at Onoja’s law firm, explained that the amendment became necessary to ensure the court’s records accurately reflect the correct entity.
In his affidavit supporting the motion, Vincent Sani, a litigation clerk at the Onoja law firm, said he was informed by one of the lawyers, Innocent Adoo, on November 25 that after the filing of the originating processes in the suit, he observed that the 2nd defendant’s name was erroneously spelt, hence the need for the amendment.
At the heart of the dispute lies a broader challenge to petroleum product import licenses. Dangote Refinery has asked the court to void import licenses issued to NNPC Limited, Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and four other companies. The company alleges that the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) violated Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by issuing these licenses.
The NNPC has responded by requesting the court to strike out the entire suit, arguing that the entity originally sued – Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited – is a non-existent entity.
Three oil marketers – AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited – have also joined the fray, praying for the dismissal of Dangote Refinery’s suit.
Presiding Judge Inyang Ekwo has set January 20, 2025, as the date for a report on settlement or service, giving all parties time to prepare their legal arguments.
The litigation clerk, Sani, maintains that the proposed amendment would not prejudice the defendants and that justice would be better served by considering the plea. His affidavit states that the NNPC has not yet been served with the original originating processes.
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