By Obiabin Onukwugha
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has stated that it will proceed to the Supreme Court to regain the right to hear and handle issues relating to oil spills and pollution in Nigeria.
Deputy Director of Legals, NHRC, Rivers State, Mrs Sarah Orage, disclosed this during a public presentation of a Legal-Policy Analysis Report titled “Legal-Policy Gap Analysis of the Petroleum Industry Act and Mobilisation of Citizens’ Public Interest Advocacy.,” organised by the Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) Resources Centre, with support from the Africa Centre for Energy Policy in Port Harcourt at the weekend.
The Akwa Ibom State Oil Producing Community Development Network and the All Farmers Association of Nigeria in the state, had in 2016 filed a petition against the National Petroleum Development Corporation (NNPCL), now NNPCL, seeking compensation for damages caused by oil spill and environmental pollution from the company.
The petitioners alleged that the oil companies’ harmful environmental practices, such as gas flaring, toxic dumping, and leaks from uncorked wells, had devastated communities and negatively impacted the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen.
But Justice Adeyemi Ademola, in an ex parte motion filed on behalf of the National Petroleum Development Corporation, seeking review of some powers of NHRC, argued that the commission lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the complaints before it.
In its unanimous judgement delivered in July this year, the Court of Appeal in Abuja, issued a pepertual injunction. The could in the judgment read by Justice Okon Abang, ruled that NHRC lacked the jurisdiction to entertain complaints relating to oil spills and pollution in Nigeria, as they are not considered a human rights court.
The applelate court also said only the Federal High Courts are constitutionally empowered to handle such matters.
Orage, who represented the Coordinator of NHRC, Port Harcourt office, Mrs Chinwe Okoroji, said the judgment has denied the people the opportunity to exercise their rights, pointing out that the commission is heading to the Supreme Court to overturn the decision.
“When it comes to environmental issues, you have rights. Whenever there are rights, we, the National Human Rights Commission, are there.
“Presently, the Court of Appeal, some months ago, held that the Human Rights Commission does not have the right to entertain issues on oil spills and environmental pollution.
“If they say we don’t have the rights, who else should? As you see, the legal jurisprudence is trying not to recognise the rights of the people if they give this judgment.
“If you strip us of this right, you have directly denied people their rights to justice. As we speak, we are approaching the Supreme Court, and we hope that the Supreme Court will reverse that judgment.
“Else, the rights of the host communities to get justice will be hampered. For now, it will affect the well-being and welfare of the people.
“If this judgment is overturned, the commission will do a lot. The commission cannot act fully if they have been stopped by this judgement,” she said.
The Executive Secretary of HEDA, Mr Sulaimon Arigbabu, called for accountability and transparency in the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
Arigbabu said four years after the passage of the PIA, its impact is yet to be achieved, regretting that while the legal structure is strong, significant implementation gaps remain.
He said the government has introduced laws and policies to address the rot in the oil and gas industry, but implementation and enforcement remain a point of concern.
Arigbabu further said the success of all the regulations and laws around the industry has always been impeded by weak enforcement, inadequate funding, and community conflicts.
The HEDA executive director stressed the need to strengthen regulatory frameworks and enforcement mechanisms and increase transparency and accountability in the petroleum sector.
He urged the government to promote local content and community engagement and to enhance environmental protection and remediation measures.
The Deputy Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Hon. Dumle Maol, noted that the PIA is mainly designed to benefit host communities but its implementation must be transparent and accountable.
It would be recalled that the National Assembly is currently amending the PIA to make it more transparent and beneficial to both the communities and oil companies
