Court orders NMDPRA to grant fuel importation licenses to AA Rano, others

Rano Nigeria Restricted, he stated that seeing that July 2025, the NMDPRA had, at leading, granted, issued, longer, renewed, or reissued petroleum products import licences, permits, or authorisations to the plaintiffs simply sporadically, instead of consistently.

He stated that the authority’s activity and/or inaction was entrenching handle dominance and monopolisation of the downstream sector by area refineries.

“Collectively, the Plaintiffs have invested greater than $20,000,000,000 [Twenty Billion United States of America Dollars] in infrastructure, logistics and retail networks for the seamless operations of their licensed petroleum products businesses,” he stated.

Ahmed urged the court to hold that the importation of petroleum products alongside nearby production of same would engender competition, review monopoly and charge-fixing, amid other things, and direct to the complete improvement of the midstream and downstream sector of the petroleum business area.

The NMDPRA’s legal unit additionally filed its processes in the subject.

The up-to-date legal advance comes subsequent to novel reports from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) showed that Nigeria’s petrol imports dropped sharply in the earliest quarter of 2026, as grant from nearby refineries climbed to around 3.18 billion litres.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has organized the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to “continue to grant” petroleum solution import licences to three important oil marketers—Matrix Energy, AA Rano, and AYM Shafa—in line including appropriate laws.

Justice Inyang Ekwo made the sequence in his judgment on Monday, holding that the NMDPRA’s refusal to matter licences to the three oil marketers was in “manage non-compliance” using the Petroleum Business area Act (PIA).

Between other reliefs, the lawyers to the three companies, Raji Ahmed, SAN, and Chris Ekemezie, Esq., sought a announcement that the regime of the Petroleum Sector Act, 2021, does not outlaw or ban the importation of petroleum products into Nigeria and neither does it preclude or prohibit the NMDPRA from granting licences to eligible importers or renewing same for the importation of petroleum products into Nigeria.

In delivering his judgment, the judge observed that the case was founded on the refusal of the NMDPRA to problem and renew petroleum import licences to the plaintiffs.

According to the judge, the “consequence of non-compliance” alongside the PIA and applicable laws makes any exercise by the authority in respect of import licences “null and void.”

The judge subsequently held that the plaintiffs had successfully accepted their state against the NMDPRA, adding that the case succeeded on its merits.

The judge declared that the provisions of Sections 31(a), (d), (l), Segment 32(l), (s), (c), (u), (aa), (ii), (jj), and Division 211 of the Petroleum Field Act, 2021, read together together with the provisions of Component 72 of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCPA), obligate, mandate, constrain, or compel the NMDPRA to address a competitive vend for midstream and downstream petroleum operations and to block the abuse of dominant positions and restrictive organization practices using regard thereto.

The judge furthermore declared that the plaintiffs, upon fulfilment of the conditions stipulated by the defendant for the grant of petroleum products import licences, are entitled to the issuance or grant of same and/or extension or renewal of such import licences by the defendant.

“A PROCLAMATION that by the provisions of the Petroleum Sector Act, 2021, notably, Sections 29(3), 32(a)–(uu) & 33(a)–(w) thereof, the benchmark of the midstream and downstream operations of the Petroleum Trade, specifically, the power to grant, matter, change, continue, renew, suspend, cancel, reissue or terminate licences, permits and authorisations for midstream and downstream operations is vested in the Defendant solely.”

The judge exactly granted the organization directing the NMDPRA to carry on to grant, topic, expand, renew, or reissue all licences, permits, and authorisations for midstream and downstream operations, generally so as they connect to the importation of petroleum products, to the plaintiffs upon fulfilment of all statutory and/or regulatory preconditions for same.

Additionally, in an affidavit deposed to by Sabiu Saidu Mahuta, the Executive Director of A.A.

Source: Court orders NMDPRA to grant fuel importation licenses to AA Rano, others