“Halt all divestment process till IOCs remediate and repair the Niger Delta region”- stakeholders urge National Assembly

In the face of the divestment of the International oil companies (IOCs), as they sell off their on-shore oil fields to local companies, moving their operations to deep waters, this has sparked concerns about the future of host communities and the environment.

Civil society organizations, environmental activists, academia and other stakeholders have raised the question of who will take the reins and ensure accountability for maintaining the oil wells and facilities, loss of livelihoods suffered by host communities, and the remediation of damaged lands and waters.

These concerns shaped the conversations at the Community Town Hall Meeting on Oil Divestment and Transition Accountability in the Niger Delta which held on the 25th of March 2026 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The meeting which was organized by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Center) with the theme, Strengthening Transparency, Environmental Responsibility and Community Participation in Oil Assets Divestment, examined the divestment process, criticizing the companies for selling their assets off to local companies and evade their responsibilities after decades of damages oil exploration has caused the people of the Niger Delta.

The conversations at the meeting also examined the five years old Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and the Host Community Development Trust (HCDT). They stated that the host communities are yet to receive the promised of the PIA, adding that the HCDT has not served the purpose of its creation.

The participants further criticized the regulatory gaps of the divestment process, stressing that the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and other regulatory agencies have been compromised by political decisions from the executive, raising serious questions about the practical independence and enforceability of the regulatory framework

Executive Director of Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative -MEDI stated that the IOCs cannot divest run away from their responsibilities after polluting the Nigeria Delta.

He demanded that every decision that has been taken by federal government on divestment must be reversed and halted, until the companies have restored the environment to what how it was before oil exploration.

Also speaking, Comrade Kentebe Ebiaridor of Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria pointed out that the divestment process was done in secrecy, and host communities were not carried along in the process.

He emphasized that the if the divestment process is not closely monitored, the communities will not get justice for the decades long environmental, economic, health and security damages they have suffered.

Speaking at the workshop, Executive Secretary of HEDA, Arigbabu Sulaimon stated that despite the divestment, host communities are still living with the liabilities left by the companies.

He stressed that the local companies who are acquiring the assets and liabilities of the IOCs do not have the financial capacity to carry the responsibilities left behind.

He added that all institutions have to come together to demand for accountability from both the regulating agencies and divesting companies, ensuring that the guidelines of divestment should be followed, to bring justice, accountability and hope for the affected communities.

The workshop which was attended by civil society organizations, women groups, youth representatives, environmental advocates, researchers, legal experts, government agencies, regulatory bodies, and media practitioners. produced a communique that covered the key observations of Environmental & Health Concerns, Community Rights & Participation, Governance & Regulatory issues, with messages to the government NUPRC, divesting IOCs and other relevant agencies.