Governor Diri slams FG over poor implementation of anti-gas flaring laws

Governor Douye Diri has criticised the federal government for its poor implementation of anti-gas flaring laws and other regulations governing international oil companies operating in Nigeria.

Mr Diri said that the federal government continues to accept fines from oil companies instead of enforcing the laws, a situation, he said, has left oil-producing areas with a polluted environment.

He spoke at the launch of a report by the Bayelsa State Oil and Environmental Commission, titled, ‘An Environmental Genocide: Counting the Human and Environmental Costs of Oil in Bayelsa, Nigeria’.

The report was launched on Wednesday at the Sheraton Hotel in Abuja.

Mr Diri, a former member of the House of Representatives and the Senate, said that federal government policies on gas flaring have been ineffective and have fallen short of their objectives. He added that the government’s approach allows oil companies to operate with minimal accountability.

He noted that several other oil-producing countries, such as Norway and Canada, impose stringent environmental standards and heavy fines, making it costly to bypass regulations.

“Nigeria’s federal structure has largely accepted the option of fines over enforcing actual environmental safeguards. This preference for penalties over meaningful regulatory enforcement has allowed international oil companies to operate with minimal accountability,” Mr Diri said.

He added, “Nigeria’s gas flaring policies, despite their intent, have fallen short of effective action. With regulations like the Associated Gas Re-Injection Act of 1979 and the more recent Flare Gas Regulations of 2018, the penalties imposed on IOCs remain negligible compared to the profit made from continued flaring.

“While international policies in places like Norway, Canada and the EU impose stringent environmental standards and heavy fines, making it costly to bypass regulations.”

Speaking on the state of the environment in Bayelsa State, Mr Diri described it as a humanitarian crisis, noting that oil companies have refused to take responsibility for the environmental disaster, instead deflecting blame by alleging “sabotage”.

“It is no longer just an ecological disaster; it is a human rights challenge and a humanitarian crisis. Yet, time and time again, the IOCs deflect blame for environmental disasters, claiming sabotage rather than acknowledging the undeniable truth of their own negligence and failing infrastructure,” he noted.

Remedy

As a form of remedy, Mr Diri said, the report recommended investing $12 billion within the next 12 years to restore the environment.

“Let me echo a resounding call of the Commission to the IOCs: concerted international action to generate and invest at least US $12 billion over the course of 12 years to repair, remediate and restore the environmental and public health damage caused by oil and gas, and to lay the foundations for Bayelsa’s just transition towards renewable energy and opportunities for alternative livelihoods,” he said.

The governor pledged to work with the governors of other oil-producing states to mount a united front demanding measures to address the environmental situation in the Niger Delta.

Findings, recommendations of report

In his remarks, the Chairman of the Commission, Tucker Sentamu, explained that the report is not a product of bias or sentiment and promised to present it to the UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.

He said that the report highlighted the extensive petroleum pollution in Bayelsa State and has given “us a vivid picture of the extreme damage that almost seven decades of crude oil exploitation has done to the entire Niger Delta region, particularly with regard to both environmental and human health. It is pure environmental genocide, and there is no way to sugarcoat its horrors.”

Mr Sentamu revealed some of the commission’s findings, including the dumping of waste into water bodies, describing the actions of the IOCs as “industrial vandalism and systemic environmental racism.”

He noted that the commission recommended comprehensive environmental, social, and health audits of the region, adding that the process must now be put in place to expand the work of the Hydrocarbons Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) to cover the entire Niger Delta.

The event was attended by the former governor of the state and senator, Seriake Dickson, traditional rulers in the region, and others.