Diri criticises FG for ‘prioritising’ fines over enforcing gas flaring laws

Douye Diri, the governor of Bayelsa, says the federal government is not prioritising the enforcement of gas flaring policies and other laws regulating the operations of international oil companies (IOCs).

Diri spoke in Abuja on Wednesday 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 governor accused the federal government of prioritising fines instead of enforcing laws to protect environmental safety.

“Nigeria’s federal structure has largely accepted the option of fines overenforcing actual environmental safeguards,” he said.

“This preference for penalties over meaningful regulatory enforcement has allowed international oil companies to operate with minimal accountability.

“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.”

Diri, a former senator, said the activities of oil exploration and gas flaring in Bayelsa have left a severe humanitarian crisis in the state.

The governor said oil companies have failed to take responsibility for the environmental damage and are shifting blame by claiming sabotage.

“It is no longer just an ecological disaster. It is a human rights challenge and a humanitarian crisis,” he said.

“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.”

The governor said the report recommends an investment of $12 billion within the next 12 years to clean up 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,” Diri said.

Tucker Sentamu, chairman of the commission, said the report highlighted the “extensive pollution” in Bayelsa state by oil companies.

He said the report presents 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,” he said.

He said the commission’s discoveries included the dumping of waste into water bodies, adding that the actions of the IOCs are “industrial vandalism and systemic environmental racism”.

He said the Niger Delta region requires comprehensive environmental, social, and health audits.

Sentamu said he will present the report to Keir Starmer, the UK prime minister.