• Nigeria’s parliament intervenes in Dangote refinery, fuel import dispute

• Lawmakers probe regulator over import licences, pricing policies

• Case highlights reliance on fuel imports despite local refining capacity

Nigeria’s House of Representatives has stepped in to intervene in a dispute between Aliko Dangote, owner of the Lekki refinery, and the country’s downstream petroleum regulator.

Lawmakers tasked relevant committees with looking into the conflict over fuel imports and pricing issues that have sparked public controversy, according to international media reports on Tuesday, Dec. 16. The move marks Parliament’s first formal involvement in a matter that had previously been confined to regulatory action and media debate.

The dispute pits Dangote Refinery against the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the body responsible for overseeing downstream oil activities. Aliko Dangote argues that the regulator has issued fuel import licences in a way that favours the inflow of low-priced imported products into the Nigerian market.

He says the policy penalises local refineries, including his own, despite the facility having been designed to reduce the country’s dependence on petroleum imports. The regulator, however, told Reuters that its actions fall within its mandate to ensure adequate market supply.

Members of Parliament justified their intervention by citing the strategic importance of the issue for the Nigerian economy. The Dangote refinery, with a processing capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, is regarded by authorities as a pillar of national energy security in a country that remains heavily dependent on fuel imports.

Despite being Africa’s leading producer of crude oil, Nigeria imported approximately 69% of the gasoline it consumed between August 2024 and October 2025, according to NMDPRA data cited by the Nigerian press.

The investigation launched by the House of Representatives will focus on the regulator’s decisions regarding fuel imports and pricing mechanisms at the heart of the dispute with Dangote Refinery. No date has yet been announced for hearings involving the parties concerned.

Abdel-Latif Boureima