… As Court extends restraining order
By Seun Ibiyemi
The legal battle between Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) over propane loading and distribution has intensified, with the regulator raising safety concerns and the refinery accusing it of abusing its powers.
The dispute came to a head at the Federal High Court in Lagos on Wednesday, where NMDPRA urged the court to discharge an interim order restraining it from enforcing its directive to suspend propane loading and truck-out operations at the refinery.
However, Justice Akintayo Aluko extended the order, which restrains the regulator from interfering with the refinery’s operations pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application.
The court’s decision followed NMDPRA’s argument that the order, granted on August 31, had been obtained through alleged misrepresentation and suppression of material facts.
The regulator, through its counsel, Matthew Burkaa, also challenged the jurisdiction of Justice Aluko to grant the order, arguing that the refinery had not filed the required motion on notice when its ex-parte application was heard.
NMDPRA said its decision to suspend propane loading and truck-out operations followed findings of alleged diversion of propane-laden trucks to unknown and unlicensed customers, as well as alleged illegal blending of propane at some LPG plants.
The regulator said laboratory tests conducted on LPG samples from three plants—Selai, Tewa and Ameego Pago—allegedly showed propane content above 50 per cent.
It said industry requirements stipulated that propane should constitute no more than 20 per cent of an LPG blend, while butane should account for about 80 per cent.
According to NMDPRA, representatives of the three plants identified Sublime Oil and Gas Limited, an off-taker from Dangote Refinery, as their source of propane.
The regulator said this prompted a wider reconciliation and material-balance exercise involving propane-producing facilities and LPG-blending plants.
It further alleged that its officials were denied access when they attempted to inspect propane-loading operations and records at Dangote Refinery on August 24.
NMDPRA subsequently issued a notice of potential non-compliance and directed the refinery to suspend propane loading and truck-out pending the outcome of its investigation and the implementation of additional safety measures.
The regulator also alleged discrepancies in the refinery’s truck-out manifests.
It said Sublime Oil and Gas lifted 25 trucks of propane on August 20 and 22 for delivery to Navgas/Agasco, but Navgas confirmed receiving only six.
NMDPRA therefore said the remaining 19 trucks were unaccounted for.
It also alleged that records from Delta State showed another off-taker loaded 52 trucks between May and August 2026 for delivery to Navgas, but Navgas reportedly confirmed that none of the consignments were received.
The regulator argued that the alleged diversion of propane to unauthorised and unlicensed customers raised serious public health and safety concerns, particularly because the product was allegedly being used for LPG blending outside approved standards.
It further claimed that propane produced by Dangote and other gas-processing facilities had a vapour pressure of about 13 bar, compared with the maximum seven-bar pressure required for the standard propane-butane LPG mixture.
According to NMDPRA, the higher-pressure propane could pose an explosion risk at LPG refilling plants not designed to handle such pressure.
However, Dangote Group’s spokesman, Anthony Chiejina, rejected the regulator’s position, arguing that NMDPRA officials had inspected and certified the propane before it left the refinery.
“We have NMDPRA staff there in the refinery. They inspected and certified the product as okay. Then, a company came to pick up the product with its truck, not Dangote’s truck. You later arrested the truck somewhere else and said it was conveying adulterated or blended propane. How does that concern us after you tested and certified our product okay?” he said.
Chiejina also accused the regulator of abusing its powers, saying its officials had gone to the plant to seal it before later leaving.
He questioned the refinery’s responsibility for the movement of products after they had been purchased and transported by independent off-takers.
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“Let them go and check their records. And the owner of the truck has left with his truck. Where he goes with his truck – is it my business? He does what he likes with his products,” he said.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, counsel for Dangote Refinery, Wale Akoni, SAN, drew the court’s attention to NMDPRA’s counter-affidavit filed in response to the refinery’s motion on notice.
Akoni requested a brief adjournment to enable him to respond, saying he had only been served with the counter-affidavit in court on Wednesday.
Burkaa did not oppose the request but emphasised the urgency of the matter because of the safety concerns raised by the regulator.
Justice Aluko, however, said he could not fix a fresh date because he was sitting as a vacation judge and the court’s annual vacation would end on Friday.
The judge thereafter extended the interim order restraining NMDPRA from interfering with the refinery’s operations pending the hearing and determination of the substantive application.
Justice Aluko held that the order made on August 31 would continue to subsist until the hearing and determination of the motion on notice, or until the court gives further directive.
He subsequently directed that the case file be returned to the registry for assignment to the regular court by the administrative judge.
The substantive dispute over NMDPRA’s regulatory action, the quality and handling of propane, and the alleged diversion of trucks therefore remains pending.
