President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote.
By Innocent Anaba
LAGOS — A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has restrained the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, a federal agency charged with the responsibility to regulate, monitor, supervise technical and commercial operations in the country’s midstream and downstream petroleum value chain, and others, from shutting down Dangote Petroleum Refinery, under the guise of performing oversight functions.
Trial judge, Justice Akintayo Aluko, made the order, yesterday, while granting a motion ex-parte in suit marked FHC/L/CS/1174/26, filed and moved by lawyers to Dangote Petroleum Refinery, led by Olawale Akoni, SAN.
Dangote Petroleum Refinery, through its lawyers, had asked the court for “an order restraining the defendant, whether by itself, officers, servants, agents, partners, representatives, privies, or any person acting under its authority or direction, from enforcing, implementing, giving full effect to, or taking any steps or further steps pursuant to the directive contained in its letter dated August 24, 2026, by which it purported to suspend all loading and truck-out of products from the plaintiff’s refinery pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice, which has been filed contemporaneously with the present application.”
