IMPACTS OF THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY ACT 2021 ON LAND AND MINERAL RESOURCES RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Government’s expropriation of petroleum under Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act 2021 (PIA) and the claims of indigenous peoples in whose historical settlements petroleum is discovered in Nigeria have been subjects of controversy over the years. This controversy formed the basis for litigations, agitations, destruction of oil facilities leading to drop in the oil production quota of Nigeria, kidnapping of oil workers, and acts of sabotage. This paper was therefore designed to examine section 1 of the PIA which vest ownership and control of petroleum in the Government of the Federation of Nigeria against the background of the status of indigenous peoples. The research adopted the doctrinal research methodology using statutes, regulations, journals, declarations, case laws, and textbooks to evaluate legal doctrines on the subject. This research reached findings that the Nigerian Government acts in breach of its domestic and international legal obligations on the subject. It also found the Government in breach of the rights of indigenous peoples in Nigeria. It proposed the need for amendment of the PIA, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and other relevant laws on the ownership and control of petroleum in order to conform with the domanial cum private ownership theory which was agreed upon during the constitutional conferences leading to Nigeria’s independence in 1960. This is the way to go in order to attain sustainable peace in the relationship between indigenous oil-bearing communities and the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.