Dangote sues Nigeria's government over fresh petrol import licences as the "mafia" fight reaches court

Aliko Dangote has taken Nigeria's attorney general to court again, filing a new lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Lagos seeking to cancel fuel import licences issued to six petroleum marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, escalating a dispute over who controls Nigeria's petrol supply into its sharpest legal confrontation yet.

Court documents seen by Reuters show the filing was made on May 15. The refinery is asking the court to set aside all import licences issued or renewed by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority on or about May 6, 2026, arguing that the approvals violate an existing court order made on April 29 directing all parties to maintain the status quo as at April 2 until the underlying matter is determined.

The six marketers granted new licences are NIPCO, AA Rano, Matrix Energy, Shafa Energy, Pinnacle Oil and Gas, and Bono Energy. Together, the allocations cover between 600,000 and 720,000 metric tonnes of premium motor spirit, with individual portions ranging from 60,000 to 150,000 metric tonnes per company. The NMDPRA did not respond to requests for comment. The Attorney General's office said it could not comment immediately.

The timing is significant. The NMDPRA had suspended new petrol import permits in February and March 2026 after data showed the Dangote refinery was supplying more than 90 percent of Nigeria's domestic petrol consumption. By April, the refinery was running at 99.12 percent of its 650,000-barrel-per-day capacity, producing 53.6 million litres daily, with 40.7 million litres allocated to local use and 17.1 million litres exported. Petrol imports fell to about 965 million litres in the first quarter of 2026, down 60.2 percent from the same period in 2025. Against that backdrop, the regulator's decision to issue fresh import licences to six companies struck Dangote's team as a policy reversal that defied both market reality and an existing court order.

Dangote's argument in the filing rests on the Petroleum Industry Act, which he contends permits fuel imports only when domestic supply is insufficient. With the refinery supplying nearly 80 percent of national demand and exporting surplus product, he argues the legal basis for new import permits does not exist. The court case is a sharper version of a previous lawsuit filed in July 2025 that the refinery withdrew without public explanation, prompting speculation about a behind-the-scenes compromise. That compromise, if it existed, has clearly broken down.

Dangote named the fuel import interests blocking the refinery's dominance directly in a recent interview with Nicolai Tangen, chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management. "These are the people that are not agreeing for us to settle down because they believe that we are coming here to displace them," he said. "Of course, that's what we have done now." He described a network of shippers, traders and marketers who built businesses on Nigeria's former fuel subsidy system, which cost the government nearly $10 billion annually, and who now view the refinery as an existential threat to those revenue streams. In that interview, he also confirmed the refinery is now operating at 661,000 barrels per day, above its nameplate capacity.

The six companies named in the new licences have not issued public statements on the lawsuit. Fuel marketers have historically argued that imports remain necessary to protect against supply disruptions and maintain competitive pricing. Dangote's refinery currently sells petrol at N1,200 per litre ex-gantry, while imported petrol from competing marketers is being sold at between N1,285 and N1,295. The price differential, as much as N95 per litre, gives the refinery a structural advantage in the market that imports undercut only at regulatory discretion.

The case is before Justice Aneke at the Federal High Court in Lagos. No hearing date has been announced.