Court Rejects NNPCL’s Objection in ₦100bn Dangote Refinery Lawsuit
A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) objection to a ₦100 billion import license lawsuit filed by Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals.
In his ruling, Justice Inyang Ekwo stated that NNPCL failed to submit a counter-affidavit against Dangote Refinery’s claims and instead filed a preliminary objection, which violates court procedures. He noted that jurisdictional issues should be addressed during the final judgment.
The judge also criticized NNPCL for breaching Order 16 of the Federal High Court rules by submitting what he described as an “incompetent preliminary objection.”
Furthermore, Justice Ekwo ruled in favor of Dangote Refinery’s request to amend its suit, stating that the amendment would not cause any injustice to NNPCL.
