…Lawmakers seek increase of host communities fund from 3% to 6%
Five years after the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was signed into law, many oil-producing communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta say the landmark legislation has failed to substantially improve living conditions or address decades of environmental degradation, poverty and economic exclusion in the region.
The PIA, passed in 2021 after nearly two decades of debate and legislative delays, was widely celebrated as a major reform of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. Central to the law was the creation of the Host Communities Development Trust Fund, designed to channel direct benefits to communities impacted by oil exploration and production activities.
Under the Act, oil companies operating in upstream petroleum operations are required to contribute three percent of their actual annual operating expenditure from the preceding financial year to host community development trusts established for affected communities. Profits and interest accruing to
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