Group Urges Tinubu to Sign NOSDRA Amendment Bill into Law
An environmental advocacy group, Spaces for Change (S4C), has called on President Bola Tinubu to sign the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Amendment Bill 2026 into law following its passage by the Senate.
The group’s Executive Director, Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, made the appeal in Lagos, describing the proposed amendment as an important step towards strengthening environmental protection and improving accountability in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
The amendment seeks to introduce criminal liability and higher financial penalties for environmental violations, particularly oil pollution, to discourage oil spills and ensure operators are held responsible for environmental damage.
Ibezim-Ohaeri said existing penalties had failed to prevent environmental violations, leaving oil-producing communities, particularly in the Niger Delta, to suffer from polluted water sources, destroyed farmlands and damaged fishing livelihoods.
She stressed that effective enforcement would require NOSDRA to independently investigate oil spills, identify responsible companies and ensure they fulfil their environmental obligations.
However, S4C warned that stronger penalties alone would not deliver the desired results without adequate funding and operational independence for the agency.
At the fifth National Extractive Dialogue (NED 2026), organised by S4C in partnership with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and NOSDRA in Port Harcourt on September 29 and 30, participants examined weaknesses in oil pollution investigations and the settlement of outstanding liabilities in the petroleum sector.
One of the major concerns raised was NOSDRA’s dependence on oil and gas companies for logistics, facilities and other resources during investigations.
According to the group, such dependence could compromise investigations, limit access to evidence and weaken public confidence in regulatory findings.
Ibezim-Ohaeri explained that when an environmental regulator depends on companies whose operations are under investigation, questions could arise about the independence and credibility of its findings.
She therefore urged the Federal Government to provide NOSDRA with predictable funding, independent laboratory facilities, monitoring and sampling equipment, trained investigators and reliable transportation.
She also called for transparent procedures for collecting, analysing and reporting evidence during environmental investigations.
The S4C executive director maintained that environmental enforcement should not depend on the goodwill or resources of companies being investigated.
