The House of Representatives, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to immediately halt all divestment processes by Shell, TotalEnergies, and other International Oil Companies, IOCs, until their historical, environmental and social liabilities were addressed.

The House insisted that government must ensure that no divestment proceeds without transparent consultations with the Niger Delta communities and state governments.

The House also mandated the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, to begin the process of enforcing compliance with the Petroleum Industrialisation Act, PIA, and reject divestment applications that fail to meet the highest standards of corporate accountability.

It called on NUPRC to conduct detailed assessments of new operators’ financial, technical, and environmental capacities before granting approval.

The House further called for the establishment of an Environmental Restoration Fund, financed by IOCs, to comprehensively address the UNEP and BSOEC’s estimated $100 billion in damages across the Niger Delta and introduce community profit-sharing mechanisms to ensure that host communities benefit directly from oil and gas revenues. These followed the adoption of an urgent motion moved during plenary, yesterday, by the minority leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda.

Presenting his motion, Chinda expressed concern that approving Shell’s or TotalEnergies’ divestment requests without addressing lingering historical and ongoing liabilities risks undermining Nigeria’s regulatory independence by transferring corporate responsibilities to the Nigerian state as well as signaling impunity for environmental crimes.