Niger Delta Stakeholders Demand Audit of Abandoned Oil Wells
Civil society groups, labour unions, environmental activists and community leaders from across the niger Delta ended their meeting in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, with a demand for the immediate publication of payments into oil and gas decommissioning and abandonment funds. They also called for a comprehensive audit of abandoned oil wells and petroleum infrastructure after years of pollution linked to oil production.
Uyo convergence demands disclosure
The call came at the end of the 5th Niger Delta Alternatives Convergence, held on Thursday under the theme "Decommissioning and Accountability." The meeting brought together civil society organisations, labour groups, researchers, environmental experts, women and youth groups, and traditional institutions across the nine states of the Niger Delta.
Nnimmo Bassey was among the speakers who set the tone for the gathering, which the Health of Mother Earth Foundation convened. Participants said every abandoned and leaking oil well in the region should be treated as a "crime scene" because of the danger they said it still poses to communities and the environment.
Petroleum Industry Act 2021 funds
The stakeholders faulted oil companies and the Nigerian government for failing to disclose payments made into decommissioning and abandonment funds in the annual reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Section 233 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 provides for the establishment of the Decommissioning and Abandonment Fund, held in an escrow account by a financial institution not affiliated with the oil and gas company.
Participants also accused the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority of weak oversight and poor enforcement of environmental accountability frameworks. Their criticism focused on the gap between the legal obligation to set aside decommissioning money and the public record of how those payments have been handled.
Abandoned wells in Niger Delta
The communiqué cited abandoned wells in Otuabagi, Bayelsa State; the 2007 eruption at the Shell Petroleum Development Company well, Ibibio-1, in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State; the Ororo-1 well fire in Ondo State, which has reportedly been burning since 2020; and the Alakiri wellhead fire in Rivers State, which has been ongoing since 2024.
It called for immediate identification, audit and public disclosure of all abandoned oil and gas wells and facilities across the Niger Delta region, along with urgent cleanup, remediation, restoration and reparations for polluted communities affected by oil extraction and abandoned facilities. The stakeholders also urged amendments to the Petroleum Industry Act to strengthen environmental responsibility provisions, decommissioning obligations and corporate accountability.
