Connect with us

Business

Court dismisses NNPCL’s objection to Dangote Refinery’s suit on import licence

Published

on

NNPC and Dangote Refinery 510x340 1
831 Views

A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the objection raised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) against the competence of a suit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals FZE (Dangote Refinery).

Dangote is seeking to void the licences issued by the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to some oil marketing companies to import refined petroleum products.

In its objection, the NNPCL challenged the jurisdiction of the court to hear the suit and urged the court to strike out its name from the suit on the grounds that it was not properly identified by the plaintiff.

It argued that the name, “Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited,” being its registered name with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), is not the one and the same entity the second defendant sued but the “Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation”.

Ruling yesterday, Justice Inyang Ekwo held that NNPCL’s objection was incompetent as it was filed in violation of Order 29 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules (FHCCPR), 2019.

Justice Ekwo also held that the NNPCL ought to have filed a defence in the form of a counter-affidavit to the plaintiff’s suit before raising an objection.

The judge averred that under the procedure in lieu of demurrer, any party is entitled to raise, by his pleading, any point of law, and that any point so raised may be disposed of by the trial court at trial or after the trial.

He explained that where a defendant seeks to challenge the jurisdiction of the court, it is the provision of Order 29 of the Federal High Court Civil Procedure Rules (FHCCPR), 2019, that would be applicable.Justice Ekwo added that the NNPCL failed to comply with the provision.

The judge held that the NNPCL, having not complied with the provisions of the FHCCPR 2019 could not be said to have filed a competent preliminary objection.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Business

Cement: Manufacturers Post N5.8tn Nine Months Revenue

The surge in the revenue is being driven by the increasing prices of cement selling N12,000 to N15,000 between July and September 2026 in Lagos and Ogun States, compared with around N10,000 sold in September 2025.

Published

on

By

bags of cement 1
41 Views

The three largest cement manufacturers in Nigeria Dangote Cement Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, and BUA Cement Plc have reported a combined N5.8 trillion revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.

The surge in the revenue is being driven by the increasing prices of cement selling N12,000 to N15,000 between July and September 2026 in Lagos and Ogun States, compared with around N10,000 sold in September 2025.

THISDAY reported that their unaudited result and accounts, the N5.8 trillion revenue is about 21 per cent increase over the N4.8 trillion revenue reported in nine months of 2025.

A breakdown revealed that Dangote Cement reported N3.8 trillion revenue during the period under review, about 19.6 per cent increase when compared to N3.15 trillion in 2025.

Dangote Cement’s production capacity increased by 9 per cent to 22.1million metric tonnes from 20.2 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2025. It sold 14.1Mt, up by 6.4 per cent in the period under review. Its average selling price also rose by 9.4 per cent to N170,493 per tonne.

Exports of cement and clinker from Nigeria increased by 41.8 per cent to 1.5Mt, including 26 clinker shipments to Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast. The company’s operations in other African countries sold 9.1Mt, up by 14 per cent. Senegal grew by 30%, Ethiopia by 19 per cent and Tanzania by nine per cent, and a new grinding plant in Ivory Coast sold 0.53Mt. Sales in Ghana and Cameroon were lower.

The first phase of the company’s 6Mt/yr plant at Itori in Ogun state is on track to be commissioned in 2027, part of a plan to increase capacity to 80Mt/yr from 55Mt/yr across Africa.

On its part, BUA Cement posted N1.09 trillion revenue, a growth of 26.5 per cent from N858.72 billion in 2025, while HBM Nigeria declared N928.25 billion revenue, representing an increase of nearly 19 per cent from N780.5 billion in 2025.

Continue Reading

Business

Dangote Says Refinery’s IPO Misses 10 Million Investors Target

According to him, the company is yet to establish the official number of investors who participated in the offer, as the necessary reports are still being compiled.

Published

on

By

Aliko Dangote 768x439 1
44 Views

Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that the initial public offering (IPO) of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery failed to meet its target of attracting 10 million investors.

Dangote disclosed this during the 25th annual conference of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in Lagos.

Dangote, however, said the public offer recorded significant participation, attracting millions of investors despite not reaching the projected figure.

According to him, the company is yet to establish the official number of investors who participated in the offer, as the necessary reports are still being compiled.

“We cannot tell the figure right away because we have not reported to this, but we’ve gotten an amazing demand from various people,” Dangote said.

Continue Reading

Business

Dangote Rice Mill in Jigawa Begins Processing

Published

on

By

aliko dangote 1
47 Views

The Jigawa State Government investment tracker has confirmed that the Dangote Rice Mill in Hadin is operational with a processing capacity of 32 tonnes per hour, equivalent to roughly 280,000 tonnes annually.

The commencement of the rice mill is trending on a video shared on X.

The footage comes 12 years after Aliko Dangote committed $1 billion to commercial rice farming and processing across Nigeria

The facility is linked to commercial cultivation schemes around Hadejia and Kafin Hausa.

Dangote Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Government in August 2014 to invest $1 billion in integrated rice farming and milling across Jigawa, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara and Edo states. Two years later, the company launched an 8,000-hectare rice outgrower scheme in Hadejia, Jigawa State. Participating farmers received improved seeds, fertilisers and technical support, and the company committed to buying their harvested paddy for processing.By February 2017, the outgrower scheme had expanded to 25,000 hectares across 14 states. Dangote set a target of 225,000 metric tonnes of milled rice by the end of that year, with an ambition of reaching one million tonnes annually. Construction announcements followed over several years without matching production results.

Dangote laid the foundation for a processing plant in Hadin, Kaugama Local Government Area of Jigawa State, in March 2018.

The facility was initially designed to handle 16 tonnes of paddy per hour.In July 2025, Dangote said Niger State had joined Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano and Nasarawa as locations with rice mills under construction.

By November 2025, the group outlined plans for mills across five states with a combined annual processing capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.

To secure raw materials, Dangote Rice Limited signed a N1.8 trillion paddy rice supply agreement with Niger Foods Security Systems and Logistics Company in July 2025.

The 10-year deal requires Niger State to develop 25,000 hectares of commercial rice farms and support 50,000 local farmers.

In May 2026, Dangote confirmed the company had committed to purchasing one million metric tonnes of paddy rice from Niger Foods over the life of that agreement.

Continue Reading

Trending