The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has warned against growing calls for unbridled importation of petroleum products. It argued that such a policy could undermine Nigeria’s industrialisation drive, weaken domestic refining investments, and deepen economic vulnerability.
In a statement issued on Sunday, CPPE’s Chief Executive Officer, Muda Yusuf, said the debate around petroleum imports went beyond fuel supply and touches on the broader issues of economic sovereignty, industrial development, and macroeconomic resilience.
The advice comes amid an ongoing legal dispute between Dangote Refinery and the federal government following the issuance of fresh fuel import licences to major petroleum marketers by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
On 15 May, the local refinery filed a fresh lawsuit against Nigeria’s Attorney-General, seeking the reversal of fuel import licences issued to oil marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).
In response, NNPC Ltd accused Dangote Refinery of attempting to dominate Nigeria’s downstream petroleum sector through the legal action challenging the import licences granted to competing marketers.
