Dangote Refinery Seeks Amendment in Law Suit Against NNPCL and Others

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE has filed an application to amend its suit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and other defendants.

This move follows an objection raised by the NNPCL, which challenged the competence of the case before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The refinery had initially sued the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the NNPCL as the first and second defendants, respectively.

Five other companies—AYM Shafa Limited, A.A. Rano Limited, T-Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited—were also named as defendants in the case, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, filed on September 6.

Through its counsel, Ogwu Onoja, Dangote Refinery is seeking to nullify import licenses issued by NMDPRA to the NNPCL and the other companies for importing refined petroleum products.

The refinery argued that NMDPRA violated Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which mandate that such licenses should only be issued when there is a proven shortfall in petroleum products. It also demanded N100 billion in damages against NMDPRA for allegedly issuing the licenses unlawfully.

In response, the NNPCL filed a preliminary objection on November 15, arguing that the Dangote Refinery had sued a non-existent entity. Represented by counsel Kehinde Ogunwumiju, the NNPCL stated that its correct legal name is “Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited,” as registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), and not “Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC).”

“A simple search on the CAC website shows that there is no entity called ‘NNPC,’” the NNPCL argued, adding that the court lacked jurisdiction over the erroneously named second defendant. It urged the court to strike out the suit or at least remove the second defendant’s name.

In light of the objection, Dangote Refinery filed a motion on November 28 to amend its originating summons. The motion seeks to correct the second defendant’s name to “Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.”

An affidavit supporting the motion, deposed by Vincent Sani, a litigation clerk from Onoja’s law firm, explained that the name of the second defendant was mistakenly written in the original suit. The amendment, according to Sani, is necessary to accurately reflect the second defendant’s legal name in the court’s records.

The motion also noted that the NNPCL had not yet been served with the original suit.

Justice Inyang Ekwo has fixed January 20, 2025, for the parties to report on the status of the settlement or the service of the amended processes.

This development underscores the importance of precision in legal filings, particularly when dealing with corporate entities, as errors in names can impact the validity of court proceedings.