Former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Foreign Affairs, Henry Odein Ajumogobia, has declared that the Niger Delta's persistent environmental degradation, poverty, and underdevelopment are not the result of inadequate laws but a failure to enforce existing legal frameworks.
Ajumogobia made the assertion on Wednesday while delivering the keynote address at the 2026 Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Law and Development Summit in Port Harcourt, where he called for an absolute legal ban on routine gas flaring, stricter environmental sanctions, and the establishment of specialised environmental courts across the region.
Weak Legal Governance
Speaking on the theme: 'The Role of Law in Driving Sustainable Development in the Niger Delta Region', the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) argued that decades of weak legal governance have prevented the oil-rich region from translating its vast natural resources into sustainable prosperity.
“The Niger Delta is not suffering from a lack of law, but a failure of legal governance,” he stated.
According to him, meaningful development in the region can only be achieved when host communities are empowered through enforceable legal rights that guarantee participation in petroleum operations, equitable revenue sharing, and inclusion in decision-making processes.
He stressed that communities must no longer remain passive observers while activities affecting their environment and livelihoods are carried out around them.
Environmental Courts Needed
Ajumogobia further advocated stronger environmental protection laws, including strict liability provisions for pollution and legally enforceable timelines for environmental remediation and clean-up exercises.
“We need environmental courts with real authority because without consequences, there is no compliance,” he said.
The former minister took particular aim at the continued practice of gas flaring, describing it as one of the region's most enduring environmental challenges.
“Gas flaring must end, not in rhetoric, but in law. It should be prohibited absolutely with stringent penalties that deter violation, not tolerated,” he declared, emphasising that routine gas flaring should attract severe sanctions capable of discouraging offenders.
Resource Governance Decentralisation
He also renewed calls for the decentralisation of resource governance, arguing that excessive control of natural resources by the Federal Government has alienated oil-producing communities and fueled distrust, conflict, and underdevelopment.
In another development, President Bola Tinubu has formally requested the Senate to confirm the nomination of Dr Zainab Marwa as a member of the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), representing the North-East geopolitical zone.
Senate Confirmation Request
The request was conveyed in a letter addressed to the upper chamber and read during yesterday's plenary by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In the correspondence, Tinubu stated that the nomination was made in accordance with Section 2 of the NDDC Act, which empowers the President to appoint members to the commission's governing board subject to Senate confirmation.
The President explained that the appointment is intended to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former board member, Abdulrazak Namdas, who represented the North-East zone.
According to the President, Namdas stepped down from the board on March 30, 2026, to pursue his ambition to become governor of Adamawa State ahead of the next electoral cycle.
