Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed September 29 for the hearing of a suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery against Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and others over an oil import license dispute.
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has expressed interest in the case, despite being dismissed as a party in the suit.
“We applied for a leave to appeal and it was granted and an appeal has been filed,” said Basima Terhemba, counsel to FCCPC.
However, Dangote Refinery’s counsel, George Ibrahim, SAN, argued that the FCCPC is not a relevant party in the suit.
“The former judge, in his ruling, held that the FCCPC was not a relevant party, describing the commission as ‘meddlesome interloper’,” he said.
The court has adjourned the matter until September 29 for hearing and ordered that hearing notice be issued and served on the defendants.
Dangote Refinery had sued NMDPRA and NNPCL, among others, over the issuance of oil import licenses. The refinery is seeking N100 billion in damages against NMDPRA for allegedly continuing to issue import licenses to NNPCL and other companies.
The NNPCL has prayed the court to strike out the case for being incompetent, while NMDPRA has argued that Dangote Refinery is not entitled to any of the reliefs sought.
