Oil marketers have faulted a suit that Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja against their allegation that the company was plotting to foist a monopoly on the petroleum sector.
The oil marketers filed a counter-affidavit against the company’s suit against them.
In the joint counter-affidavit, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited also faulted Dangote Refinery’s claim that it was capable of supplying all the refined petroleum products needed in the country.
The oil marketers alleged that Dangote Refinery’s plan to monopolise the refined petroleum products’ sector would be disastrous for the country’s economy, should it be encouraged.
In the counter-affidavit filed against the suit, the three defendants said the plaintiff is not producing adequate petroleum products for the daily consumption of Nigerians, adding that there is nothing before the court to prove the contrary.
In the counter-affidavit, dated November 5, 2024, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and Matrix Petroleum are contending that they are well qualified and entitled to be issued licences by the Nigeria Midstream And Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to import petroleum products into Nigeria in line with Section 317(9) of the Petroleum Industry Act.
They added that vesting the Dangote Refinery with the power of monopoly in the country’s petroleum industry, as it seeks to achieve by the suit, would kill competitive pricing of petroleum products in the country, further deteriorate Nigeria’s critically ailing economy “and unleash untold hardship on Nigerians, all of which constitute a recipe for disaster in the polity”.
The oil marketers noted that if the country put all its energy eggs in one basket by stopping importation of petroleum products and allowing the plaintiff to be the sole producer and supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, with liberty to determine the prices at which it supplies the products, the prices of petroleum products in Nigeria would continue to rise and energy security would elude the country.
They added: “If Nigeria puts all her energy eggs in one basket by stopping importation of petroleum products and allowing the plaintiff to be the sole producer and supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, with liberty to determine the prices at which it supplies the products, the prices of petroleum products in Nigeria will continue to rise and energy security will elude Nigeria.
“In the event of any breakdown in or obstruction to the production chain of the plaintiff, which stops it from producing, Nigeria will be thrown into energy crises as Nigeria does not have the reserves that would last it for the at least 30 days that it would need to order, pay for, freight and import refined products into tanks in Nigeria.
“Amidst the glaring absence of any credible and demonstrable proof that the plaintiff refines and supplies adequate petroleum products for the daily use/consumption of Nigerians, giving the plaintiff judicial imprimatur to be the sole supplier of refined petroleum products to Nigerians, thereby encouraging monopoly in a major aspect of Nigeria’s oil industry, is a recipe for disaster in Nigeria’s energy sector.”
The oil marketers argued that granting the reliefs sought by Dangote Refinery, allegedly aimed at making it a monopolist in Nigeria’s petroleum sector, is a design to leave Nigeria and Nigerians at the mercy of the plaintiff with respect to availability and cost of purchasing petroleum products in the country.
They also argued that they were fully qualified for the issuance of the import licences issued to them by the NMDPRA because they duly met all the legal requirements for the issuance of such import licences, before same were issued to them.
“The import licences lawfully and validly issued to the Defendants did not in any way whatsoever, cripple the Plaintiff’s business or its refinery.
“The import licences issued to the defendants by the first defendant (NMDPRA) are in line with the provisions of Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018 and other relevant laws.
Listed as defendants in the suit by Dangote Refinery are: NMDPRA, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited.
