The Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) has said that despite the promises by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 of stronger governance, improved environmental protection, enhanced community development, and greater transparency, implementation has fallen short.
It opined that such challenges such as weak enforcement, overlapping institutional mandates, poor compliance culture, and low community awareness continue to undermine the Act’s impact.
According to a statement on Sunday, these were contained in HEDA’s new comprehensive report on petroleum environmental governance in Nigeria, which provided a detailed roadmap for legal, policy, and institutional reforms in the country’s oil and gas sector.
The report which was released with support from the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), was titled “Nigeria’s Petroleum-Environmental Governance: Law, Policy, and Reform Roadmap,”, comes four years after the passage of the PIA 2021.
HEDA Chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju, said the report was developed to address the persistent gap between Nigeria’s extensive legal frameworks and the realities in oil-producing communities.
“The continuing issues around oil spill response, gas flaring, decommissioning obligations, host community development, and beneficial ownership transparency show that regulators, operators, communities, and civil society actors still lack the tools needed to drive accountability,” he said.
According to the statement, to address these gaps, HEDA Resource Centre with the collaboration of Environmental Law Research Institute (ELRI) developed a Stakeholder Accountability Tool and a Simplified Policy Brief.
It stated that these tools outline statutory obligations under the PIA and other environmental laws, highlight key lapses in implementation, and provide practical guidance to empower communities, civil society, media, and regulators to demand compliance and promote environmental stewardship.
It further said the report provided a comprehensive analysis of Nigeria’s petroleum environmental governance landscape, examining legal frameworks, institutional structures, and operational mechanisms meant to ensure environmental prevention, mitigation, remediation, and accountability.
It added that It drew on doctrinal research, comparative benchmarking, and stakeholder feedback generated through surveys and interviews.
According to the report findings, Nigeria already possesses the foundational elements of a world-class governance system.
It, however, stated that these elements remain fragmented.
The study further called for clearer institutional mandates, stronger enforcement mechanisms, re-calibrated penalties, better management of environmental liabilities during divestment and decommissioning, and real-time public access to petroleum-environment data, including emissions, spills, remediation progress, and host community development funding.
It also recommended modernizing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regime to reflect climate realities and integrating host communities and credible civil society actors as active partners in monitoring the sector.
Suraju emphasized the need for “deliberate sequencing and sustained political will” to drive reforms.
He highlighted priorities such as legislative updates, institutional integration, financial assurance systems, community oversight, capacity strengthening, and improved judicial and administrative efficiency.
“With discipline, transparency, and collaboration, Nigeria can evolve from an extractive state to a responsible energy steward one that places environmental governance at the heart of sustainable prosperity,” he said.
According to the statement, the publication reinforced HEDA’s longstanding commitment to promoting transparency, accountability, and justice in Nigeria’s extractive sector.
It added that HEDA said it will continue advocating to ensure that the PIA and related governance frameworks translate into tangible benefits for citizens and front line communities.
