DAPPMAN To Dangote Refinery: Nigeria’s Fuel Market Competitive, Not Monopolistic
By Sunday Etuka
The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) has once again reminded the Dangote Petroleum Refinery that the nation’s fuel market is not a monopoly waiting to happen, but a competitive, multi-participant market that has taken years to build and that serves millions of Nigerians every day.
DAPPMAN spoke in response to a fresh lawsuit by the Dangote Refinery seeking to set aside fuel import licences issued by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to marketers and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.).
The association in a statement posted on its X handle at the weekend explained that the import licences at the centre of the lawsuit are not administrative courtesies, but legal instruments through which Nigeria’s fuel supply chain functions.
DAPPMAN further explained that the licences were issued under a regulatory framework established by the Petroleum Industry Act, by an authority empowered to make exactly this kind of determination.
It noted that the NMDPRA has consistently maintained, correctly, that these licences exist to protect supply security, not to disadvantage any single producer, however large.
The association said its member companies have invested billions of naira in depot infrastructure, logistics networks, and compliance systems on the basis that their operating licences are valid, lawful, and durable. Adding that a legal action designed to retroactively void those licences does not just affect individual businesses but introduces uncertainty into the entire downstream supply chain at a moment when Nigeria can least afford it.
It said while it respects the Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s right to pursue legal remedies, what it does not accept is the premise that a private refinery’s commercial interests should override a regulatory authority’s mandate to ensure adequate supply to Nigerian consumers.
DAPPMAN said The PIA was clear that import licences may be issued where the regulator determines it necessary. Adding that that determination has been made, and has been defended in court before, and would be defended again. Consequently, it said it would be engaging legal counsel, coordinating with affected member companies, and making formal representations to the relevant authorities on the matter.
“Our members did not build this industry to watch it be argued out of existence in a courtroom. They built it to serve Nigeria. That is what they will continue to do, and DAPPMAN will stand behind every one of them through this process.”
“The downstream sector works because multiple players operate within it. A lawsuit that seeks to reduce that field of players is ultimately a lawsuit against Nigerian consumers,” the association noted.
