A Federal High Court has ordered the fuel regulator to keep licensing three named importers. Dangote's separate case returns to a Lagos court on 7 October.

Two cases are testing how the Petroleum Industry Act applies to fuel imports. One court has issued its judgment. The other case is still before the court.

Justice Inyang Ekwo ordered the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority on Monday to keep granting and renewing import licences for Matrix Energy, A.A. Rano and AYM Shafa once they meet the legal conditions. He found the regulator's refusals were in "direct non-compliance" with the Petroleum Industry Act. He held that nothing in the Act prohibits imports, and that the regulator must promote competition. The judgment noted that since July 2025 the regulator had, at best, issued the three companies' licences only sporadically.

Dangote's Lagos suit argues import licences should be granted only where domestic supply falls short. NNPC has told that court the Act imposes no blanket ban on imports. The case, before Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, was adjourned to 7 October after the judge was unavailable.

The regulator's August figures measure three different things. Receipts, the petrol supplied into the market, were 50.5 million litres a day, with 35.9 million from domestic refineries. Imports fell 26 per cent to 14.6 million litres a day, from 19.7 million in July. Consumption, estimated from volumes trucked into the domestic market, was 41.5 million litres a day. Stock cover was 22.9 days.

Separately, the regulator approved import permits for the fourth quarter. On 18 September it approved 830,000 tonnes of petrol for the fourth quarter, to six companies that include the three in the judgment. Its spokesman, George Ene-Ita, said the permits were approved to avoid supply gaps before the year ends. The same companies' combined allocation was 180,000 tonnes in the first quarter, 720,000 in the second and more than 800,000 in the third.

Ibrahim Shehu Yahaya is national secretary of the Petroleum Dealers Association of Nigeria. He said the Act allows imports only where there is clear evidence of a shortfall, and pointed to Dangote's rising output. The judgment, as reported, says eligible importers can't be denied licences in a way that conflicts with the Act.

The judgment, as reported, concerns licences and not prices. MRS stations in Abuja cut petrol to ₦1,370 a litre on Monday, and Legit's survey found Abuja pump prices between ₦1,370 and ₦1,450.

The regulator can appeal, and no appeal had been reported by Tuesday.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled on the licences of three importers. Dangote's separate case is due back in a Lagos court on 7 October.