Business
Oil Marketers and Dangote Battle in Court Over Import Licences
Three oil marketers, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, have asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss a suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.
The marketers, in a joint counter affidavit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, and dated November 5, 2024, a response to an originating summon filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, argued that granting the application of refinery would spell doom for the country’s oil sector.
They emphasised that the plan to monopolise the oil sector is a recipe for disaster in the country.
Dangote refinery in its originating summon dated September 6, 2024, had sued Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited as 1st to 7th defendants respectively.
The refinery prayed the court to declare that NMDPRA was in violation of Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by issuing licenses for the importation of petroleum products.
It stated that such licenses should only be issued in circumstances where there is a petroleum product shortfall.
It also urged the court to declare that NMDPRA is in violation of its statutory responsibilities under the PIA for not encouraging local refineries such as the company.
Shafa, A. A. Rano, and Matrix Petroleum, however, responded that Dangote refinery does not produce adequate petroleum products for the daily consumption of Nigerians.
They noted that the plaintiff had not placed anything before the court to prove the contrary.
They argued that they are well qualified and entitled to be issued an import licence by NMDPRA to import petroleum products.
They argued that they are well qualified and entitled to be issued an import licence by NMDPRA to import petroleum products in Nigeria within the meaning of Section 317(9) of the PIA.
They also noted that they are fully qualified for the issuance of the import licences issued to them by the 1st defendant, as they duly met all the legal requirements for the issuance of such import licences, before the same were issued to them.
“The import licences lawfully and validly issued to the defendants did not in any way whatsoever, cripple the plaintiff’s business or its refinery.
“The import licenses issued to the defendants by the 1st defendant are in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, and other relevant laws,” they contended.
They insisted that giving Dangote Refinery the power of monopoly in Nigeria’s petroleum industry as it sought in the instant suit, would kill competitive pricing of petroleum products in the country.
Business
Investors Rush For Airtel Money IPO on LSE
Airtel Money is proving popular among retail investors ahead of full admission next week.
Airtel Money began conditional trading on the London Stock Exchange this morning in a £5.3 billion market debut, dubbed Africa’s Revolut.
Shares, which were open only to investors allocated stock in the offer, were trading flat at around 194p.
But armchair investors are rushing to sign up to the City’s largest IPO in five years ahead of full admission on October 14.
It is the ninth most popular initial public offering on AJ Bell’s investment platform based on the number of customers applying to take part in the offer, it said.
Airtel Money is proving popular among retail investors ahead of full admission next week
Airtel Money, a subsidiary of Airtel Africa, which offers mobile payment services in 13 countries across Africa, is a subsidiary of FTSE 100 telecoms group Airtel Africa, whose shares have trebled in less than two years.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has clarified that its ongoing petrol discount is a temporary customer relief measure and does not amount to a restoration of the petroleum subsidy abolished in 2023.
In a statement issued on Friday by Chief Corporate Communications Officer Andy Odeh, the company said the N66-per-litre sales discount, first introduced on 1 October 2026 to mark Nigeria’s 66th Independence Anniversary, will continue until 31 October 2026 at NNPC Retail stations nationwide.
NNPC stressed that the initiative is designed to ease the burden of rising fuel prices linked to elevated global crude oil costs and the Middle East conflict. It applies only to NNPC Retail outlets and does not set a uniform national pump price or change the market-based pricing framework for petroleum products.
“This discount is a customer relief initiative and does not represent the reintroduction of petroleum subsidy,” the statement said. The company urged the public to disregard any interpretation of the measure as a return to the subsidy regime.
The clarification followed comments by Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele, who explained that the discount is funded solely from NNPC Retail’s own profit margin and involves no public funds from the federal budget or Federation Account.
Business
Manufacturers sitting on N40trn untapped opportunities, says report
The Nigerian Manufacturing Opportunity Report 2026 provides decision-makers with the insights on opportunities that are most immediate, where Nigeria is already making progress and what needs to be done better to unlock greater value.
SEID, a marketing communications and market intelligence firm in Lagos, has estimated that the Manufacturing industries in Nigeria is sitting on more than N40 trillion in untapped manufacturing opportunities.
The Managing Partner at SEID, Tubosun Akeju, disclosed this in a report -The Nigerian Manufacturing Opportunity Report 2026 launched by the during the 54th Annual General Meeting of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, held at the Oriental Hotel.
Akeju emphasised that the report provides decision-makers with the insights on opportunities that are most immediate, where Nigeria is already making progress and what needs to be done better to unlock greater value.
“The opportunity is to understand where those strengths exist, deepen them, and build the competitiveness required to capture more value locally and compete beyond our borders,” he said .
The report examines manufacturing opportunities across Nigeria’s subsectors, states, value chains and industrial clusters, while identifying areas where existing strengths can be deepened and competitiveness improved.
It said that Nigeria’s manufacturing landscape was shaped by distinct areas of industrial strength, with different states, regions and value chains demonstrating varying levels of scale, specialisation and competitiveness.
The report noted that this created an opportunity to build on existing capabilities rather than adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to industrial development.
Manufacturing activity is spread across states with different levels of scale, specialisation and growth.
The South-West remains the country’s largest manufacturing zone, while other regions are developing strengths in areas ranging from food and agro-processing to textiles, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, cement, steel and light manufacturing.
The report maps these differences to show where investment and industrial development can build on existing capabilities.
Investors Rush For Airtel Money IPO on LSE
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