Dangote Refinery has denied reports of filing a lawsuit against the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Aym Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, as widely reported.

Dangote made this known in a statement published via its official X handle on Monday.

A viral report alleging that Dangote filed a suit against the NNPCL and five other companies over the importation of petroleum products emerged online sparking a huge controversy.

Reacting to the viral report, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, via the statement denied any legal battle with the NNPC.

According to Dangote, the alleged report was an old one and would be fully and formally withdrawn when the matter comes up in court next year.

Dangote revealed that after the president’s directive, they have been in discussions with all parties involved.

Dismissing that no party has been served with court notice, Dangote emphasized that the discussions have made significant headway and there were no intentions of going to court.

The statement read, “This is an old issue that started in June and culminated in a matter being filed on September 6, 2024.

“Currently, the parties are in discussion since President Bola Tinubu’s directive on Crude Oil and Refined products sales in Naira Initiative, which was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

“We have made tremendous progress in that regard and events have overtaken this development. No party has been served with court processes and there is no intention of doing so. We have agreed to put a halt to the proceedings.

“It is important to stress that no orders have been made and there are no adverse effects on any party. We understand that once the matter comes up January 2025, we would be in a position to formally withdraw the matter in court.”

Investors King reported that following Dangote’s failure to meet petroleum demand by marketers in the country, the oil dealers returned to their former mode of buying the product outside the country and shipping them into Nigeria for sale.

According to the marketers, the move was an effort to save the country from fuel scarcity which Dangote’s inability to meet the supply demand may push the country into.

Contrary to its earlier promise, Dangote Refinery has reportedly failed to meet the demand of Nigerian petroleum marketers.

Consequently, the oil dealers have returned to their mode of buying the product outside the country and shipping them into Nigeria to sell.

They accused Dangote Refinery of inability to meet their demand, stressing that the need to prevent fuel scarcity forced them into patronising foreign petroleum refiners.

According to them, the development is to supplement the country’s fuel supply.

The old dealers also cashed in on the fair market price to be importing the product following the federal government’s full deregulation of the downstream oil sector.

In September for instance, the marketers imported about 141 million litres of fuel in September.

Investors King gathered that no fewer than four vessels carrying 123.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) arrived at Nigerian seaports between Friday, October 18, and Sunday, October 20.

In a document by the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), the four newly shipped vessels landed at the Apapa port in Lagos and the Calabar port in Cross River State.

It was gathered that 35,000, 37,000 and 10,000 metric tonnes of PMS arrived at Apapa port on Friday, October 18 in different batches.

Another 10,000 metric tonnes of fuel was said to have arrived at Calabar port on Sunday, October 20.

Dangote Refinery had promised to produce 650,000 barrels per day to meet its promised production target.

However, oil dealers had earlier disclosed that the refinery was producing only 10 million litres of petrol daily, far below its initial promise of 25 million litres.

The total fuel so far imported into the country stands at approximately 123.4 million litres of petrol if the conversion rate of 1,341 litres to one metric tonne is considered.

In an attempt to address the persistent collapse of the national grid, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has announced plans to initiate talks with Independent Operators to take over the management of the grid.

The announcement follows the recent collapse of the national grid, which left the entire country in darkness.

Recall that the national grid collapsed in the early hours of Saturday, October 19, marking the third time in one week and the seventh time in less than a year.

NERC made the announcement via a statement on its X handle.

In the statement, the commission decried the persistent collapses of the national grid, noting that they reverse many of the gains achieved by the commission.

While confirming Saturday’s collapse, NERC attributed the situation to an explosion of a transformer at the Jebba transmission station as the cause of the failure.

Furthermore, the statement revealed that NERC had already initiated discussions to transfer the management of the national grid to Independent System Operators.

According to the commission, the move is in line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023 and is expected to bring more discipline to grid management.

The statement also emphasized that this step reflects the government’s commitment to finding a permanent solution to the national grid’s challenges.

The statement read: “The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission notes with concern the recent escalating incidence of grid disturbances, often leading to significant outages in several states, thus reversing many of the gains recently achieved in reducing infrastructure deficits and improving grid stability.

“Initial reports on the grid disturbance that occurred this morning indicate that today’s outage was triggered by an explosion of a current transformer at the Jebba transmission station at 08:15 hours and an associated cascade of power plant shutdowns arising from the loss of load.

“However, efforts to restore supply have advanced with power significantly restored, as of 13:00 hours, in 33 states and the FCT.

“In line with the provisions of the Electricity Act 2023, the unbundling of the System Operator function from the Transmission Company of Nigeria Plc is ongoing, with the expectation that an Independent System Operator will bring more discipline to grid management and optimize investment in infrastructure.

“In pursuit of a permanent resolution to the national grid’s challenges, the Commission will soon conduct an investigative public hearing to identify the immediate and underlying causes of recurring grid disturbances and widespread outages.

“The date and venue of the public hearing will be announced shortly in the national dailies, and stakeholders are encouraged to participate.”