By: Odeh Favour Adiya
A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has restrained the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and its agents from shutting down the Dangote Petroleum Refinery under the guise of performing oversight functions.
Presiding Judge, Justice Akintayo Aluko, granted the restraining order on Monday following a motion ex-parte filed and moved by the refinery’s legal team, led by Olawale Akoni and Abimbola Akeredolu.
The court ruling followed prayers by the company asking 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 24th August 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.”
Dangote Petroleum Refinery also sought an order of interim injunction restraining the regulator from “entering upon, sealing, shutting down, restricting access to, obstructing, suspending, disrupting, inspecting, supervising, sanctioning, or otherwise interfering with the 1st applicant’s refinery, petrochemical, terminal, storage, blending, loading, truck-out, and related facilities and operations situated in the Lekki Free Zone, in purported exercise of the directive contained in the defendant’s letter of 24th August 2026, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice that has been filed contemporaneously with the present application.”
Moving the motion earlier, Akeredolu told the court that the ex-parte application was supported by grounds for the orders, a 42-paragraph affidavit sworn to by Wale Aroge, a written address, and documentary evidence marked as Exhibits A1 to A6.
Delivering the ruling after examining the processes, Justice Aluko noted that the central issue before the court revolved around the regulatory boundaries of the NMDPRA within free trade zones.
The judge stated: “From the depositions in the affidavit and the exhibits placed before the court, the contention of the plaintiff is that the defendant has no regulatory powers or oversight functions capable of affecting operations within the free zones, including the Dangote Industrial Free Zone.”
Justice Aluko further referenced official communications on the matter, stating: “I have also seen the letter issued by the Attorney-General of the Federation, dated March 2, 2026, which clearly stated that the defendant is not entitled to exercise regulatory powers or oversight functions over operations within the free zones. I have equally considered the defendant’s letter dated August 24, 2026, by which it purported to exercise such powers.”
Addressing the core dispute before the court, the judge added: “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.”
He pointed out that “the depositions contained in paragraphs 17 to 32 of the affidavit in support disclose serious issues for determination in this case.”
On the necessity of an immediate order, Justice Aluko ruled: “On the issue of urgency, paragraphs 33 to 39 of the main affidavit establish the need for the intervention of the court.
What the plaintiff has asked this court to do is to preserve the res pending the determination of the motion on notice.”
The court further highlighted that the applicant fulfilled the required legal standards for the relief sought.
“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 judge held.
Justice Aluko added that “the plaintiff has also undertaken to indemnify the defendant in damages should it subsequently be found that this order ought not to have been granted.”
Concluding the ruling, Justice Aluko stated: “Accordingly, I find merit in the application, and the same is hereby granted in terms of the reliefs sought. The plaintiff shall file a formal undertaking as to damages. This order, together with the notice of the court, shall be served on the defendant.”
