The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) has secured an order of the Federal High Court Lagos, restraining the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) from enforcing its directive suspending the loading and truck-out of petroleum products at the refinery.

Justice Akintayo Aluko issued the interim injunction on Monday in a fresh legal battle between the refinery and the petroleum regulator over NMDPRA’s regulatory powers within the free zone where the refinery operates.

The court also restrained NMDPRA, its officers, agents, and representatives from entering, sealing, shutting down, restricting access to, obstructing, suspending, disrupting, inspecting, supervising, sanctioning or otherwise interfering with Dangote Refinery’s operations at the Lekki Free Zone pending the determination of the refinery’s motion on notice.

The order followed an ex-parte application filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE in suit No. FHC/L/CS/1174/2026.

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The refinery is challenging NMDPRA’s August 24, 2026 directive suspending the loading and truck-out of petroleum products from its facilities.

Dangote’s application was argued by a legal team led by Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), Olawale Akoni and Abimbola Akeredolu.

Moving the application, Akeredolu urged the court to grant the reliefs sought, relying on a 42-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Wale Aroge, a written address, and documentary exhibits marked A1 to A6.

In his ruling, Aluko held that the materials placed before the court raised serious issues requiring determination, particularly whether NMDPRA possessed regulatory or oversight powers over operations within free zones.

The judge stated that Dangote’s case was that NMDPRA lacked regulatory powers capable of affecting operations within free zones, including the Dangote Industrial Free Zone.

Aluko also referred to a March 2, 2026 letter written by the Attorney-General of the Federation, which, according to the judge, “clearly stated” that NMDPRA was not entitled to exercise regulatory powers or oversight functions over operations within free zones.

The judge said he had also considered NMDPRA’s August 24 letter through which the regulator purported to exercise such powers.

“The important question, therefore, is whether the defendant can or should be allowed to exercise such regulatory authority pending the determination of the substantive issues before the court,” Aluko held.

He said the depositions contained in paragraphs 17 to 32 of Dangote’s affidavit disclosed “serious issues for determination” and demonstrated an urgent need for judicial intervention.

According to the judge, the purpose of the application is to preserve the subject matter of the dispute pending the determination of the motion on notice.

“What the plaintiff has asked this court to do is to preserve the res pending the determination of the motion on notice,” he said.

Aluko further held that the court had an inherent power and duty to preserve the subject matter of litigation and prevent a situation in which it could be destroyed or altered before the substantive application was determined.

The judge said Dangote had satisfied the legal conditions required for the grant of an interim injunction.

He held, “The law is settled on the conditions which an applicant must satisfy to be entitled to an order of interim injunction. Those conditions have been considered and stated in this ruling, and I find that they have been satisfied in the present case.”

The court also took note of Dangote’s undertaking to indemnify NMDPRA in damages should it subsequently be established that the interim order ought not to have been granted.

“Accordingly, I find merit in the application, and the same is hereby granted in terms of the reliefs sought,” Aluko ruled.

The judge directed Dangote to file a formal undertaking as to damages and ordered that the interim order and notice of the court be served on NMDPRA.

The order effectively bars NMDPRA from implementing the August 24 directive or taking the specified enforcement measures against the refinery, pending the hearing of the motion on notice.

Aluko adjourned the suit till September 9, 2026 for hearing of the motion on notice.

The latest case is separate from another suit filed by Dangote Refinery challenging the issuance and renewal of fuel import licences to NNPC Limited and several petroleum marketers.

The earlier suit, marked FHC/L/CS/857/2026, came up before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke on Monday but was adjourned until October 7 following the judge’s absence due to indisposition.

Dangote is challenging the issuance and renewal of the licences, contending that they were issued in breach of an earlier order made by the court on April 29 directing the parties to maintain the status quo as it existed on April 2, 2026.

The refinery is seeking, among other reliefs, an order setting aside the licences and restraining the Attorney-General of the Federation and relevant regulatory agencies from issuing or renewing import licences for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), and Jet A1 pending the determination of the suit.

Dangote contended that continued issuance of the licences undermined domestic refining and violated Section 317(9) of the Petroleum Industry Act, which it interpreted as permitting petroleum imports only where there was a proven shortfall in domestic supply.

The refinery, which has an installed capacity of approximately 650,000 barrels per day, maintains that it has sufficient capacity to meet Nigeria’s domestic refined petroleum product requirements.

It has relied on regulatory data which, according to the company, show that domestic production of petrol and diesel exceeds national consumption.

Dangote had argued that the refinery was established to meet Nigeria’s refined petroleum requirements, generate export surpluses, and support the development of a major market for Nigerian crude oil.

The NNPC Limited, however, urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the Petroleum Industry Act and Federal Government Backward Integration Policy do not impose a blanket prohibition on fuel imports.

The state-owned oil company maintained that petroleum imports remained permissible where necessary to guarantee national supply security.

The  NNPC Ltd also contended that the NMDPRA acted within its statutory powers in issuing the disputed licences, arguing that the law permits the licensing of companies with local refining capacity or an established track record in petroleum trading.

It further maintained that the PIA did not prohibit fuel imports except where there was a verified domestic supply surplus, arguing that imports remain a legitimate mechanism for maintaining product availability and stabilising prices.

An early-morning fire has ravaged Eda Plaza, a building materials market opposite Chida Hotel in Jabi, Abuja, destroying shops and goods reportedly worth millions of naira.

The inferno broke out around 3am on Sunday, leaving traders counting their losses after the fire spread through parts of the plaza.

An eyewitness told the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) that the alarm was raised after his brother-in-law, who owns two shops and a packing store at the plaza, received a distress call from a colleague informing him that the market was on fire.

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“We were at home this morning, as early as 3 am, and my brother-in-law received a call from one of his colleagues here in the plaza that the plaza was on fire. So we had to rush down there. On getting here, we discovered that the situation was so bad,” the eyewitness said.

According to him, only one of his brother-in-law’s two shops survived the inferno, while the other shop and the packing store were completely destroyed.

“In this plaza, my brother-in-law had two shops and a packing store. Unfortunately, only one of the shops was saved. The other shop and the packing store were totally damaged by the fire,” he added.

The eyewitness estimated the value of roofing materials lost in the blaze at more than N20 million, revealing that some of the affected materials had been restocked just hours before the fire.

“Over here, you see some of the roofs that we still have here. We are talking about a roof that is worth over N20 million lost in this fire,” he said.

He further lamented that some of the roofing materials had only been restocked the previous night.

“Because the other shop, we had roofs that were just restocked last night. And then the packing store also, we had roofs that were just restocked last night,” he said.

Confirming the incident, the National Public Relations Officer and Head of Corporate Services of the Federal Fire Service, Deputy Controller of Fire Paul Abraham, said a distress call about the Eda Plaza fire was received at 2:46am.

Abraham said the Federal Fire Service, in collaboration with the Federal Capital Territory Fire Service, deployed firefighting appliances from its Wuse, Interior Ministry and Garki stations to battle the inferno.

He disclosed that a stop message was issued at 10:14am, indicating that the fire had been brought under control.

The Federal Fire Service spokesman added that investigations were ongoing to determine the remote and immediate causes of the fire.

Despite the extent of the destruction and the financial losses recorded, no casualty was reported.

The eyewitness expressed gratitude that the incident did not claim any life.
“In our situation, we give thanks to God that no life was lost in this situation,” he said.

The quest for increased oil production from the Oil Mining Lease (OML) 42 has seen the Nestoil Group deploy its Pathfinder 500 rig to carry out workover operations on two producing wells.

The deployment, carried out through the Group’s strategic business unit, Scorpio Drilling International, marks the first productive assignment of the Pathfinder 500 since its acquisition about eight years ago.

The Pathfinder 500 is one of two rigs acquired by the Nestoil Group as part of a combined investment of approximately $28 million. The second rig is the Scorpio 300.

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According to a statement issued by the Group over the weekend, the Pathfinder 500 was successfully mobilised to the OML 42 site, where it completed workover operations on the two wells without any Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) incidents before being safely demobilised to base.

The statement added that the successful operation also contributed to incremental oil production from OML 42 and is expected to support the Group’s planned in-field drilling programme.

Chairman of Nestoil/Neconde Group, Dr. Ernest Obiejesi, described the development as a defining moment for the Group and Nigeria’s indigenous drilling capacity.

Obiejesi said the rig had remained idle for eight years amid doubts that it would ever be deployed for productive operations, making its successful mobilisation, incident-free workover campaign and safe demobilisation a significant achievement.

He explained that the decision to invest in the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300 was driven by the need to reduce dependence on hired rigs, which could be difficult and costly to secure within Nigeria’s operating environment.

According to him, as an asset owner in OML 42, the Group requires reliable in-house drilling capacity to undertake workovers, revive mature wells and ultimately drill new wells as the field develops.

He said the successful deployment of the Pathfinder 500 now positions the Group to proceed with its planned in-field drilling programme.

Obiejesi further disclosed that the project, from rig refurbishment to crewing, was executed entirely by Nigerian personnel without foreign partnership or support.

He noted that the rig is currently operated by a 100 percent Nigerian crew, attributing the development to decades of capacity building by international oil companies operating in Nigeria.

The Nestoil chairman said the experience had helped position Nigeria as a net exporter of skilled drilling personnel to other oil-producing countries.

He commended the teams at Scorpio Drilling International and others involved in the rehabilitation and operation of the rig.

Obiejesi also said the achievement extends beyond Nestoil Group, noting that Scorpio Drilling International now has two operating rigs and is among companies with rig assets in Nigeria.

“Nestoil Group, through Neconde Energy, holds interests in OML 42 and continues to invest in indigenous drilling, workover and well-services infrastructure to sustain and increase oil production from the asset.

“Scorpio Drilling International operates the Pathfinder 500 and Scorpio 300 rigs and provides drilling services to the Group and third parties across Nigeria’s oil and gas industry,” the statement added.