Senate passes bill to jail oil polluters and raise spill fines

The Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would give the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) power to impose heavier fines and criminal penalties on companies and individuals responsible for oil spills.

The bill is formally titled the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (Establishment) Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026. It seeks to amend the 2006 law that set up NOSDRA, adding statutory backing for bigger fines and criminal sanctions in the petroleum sector.

The passage followed the Senate's adoption of the report of its Committee on Environment. Senate Chief Whip Tahir Monguno (Borno North) presented the report on behalf of the committee chairman, Senator Olubiyi Fadeyi Oluwole.

Why the change matters

Monguno told the Senate that spills have continued to damage the environment and take away the livelihoods of residents in oil-producing communities, especially those who depend on fishing and farming.

He said the penalties currently on the books are too weak to stop offenders. "The fines are not deterrent enough to deter offenders," he said.

Under the bill, spills that harm the environment and deprive communities of their means of livelihood would attract criminal liability, according to Monguno. The aim is to strengthen accountability and make sure those responsible face appropriate sanctions.

For ordinary Nigerians in the Niger Delta, the bill speaks to a familiar problem: polluted creeks and farmland that hit fishing and farming families where it hurts. If it becomes law, NOSDRA would have stronger tools to pursue polluters, though the size of the new fines was not stated in the reports.

After the report was presented, the Senate went into Committee of the Whole to consider the bill clause by clause. Lawmakers approved Clauses 1 to 12, along with the short title, explanatory memorandum and long title. The Senate then returned to plenary, read the bill a third time and passed it.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio praised the Environment Committee for its work and congratulated NOSDRA on the extra powers. "I also congratulate the agency for the extra powers granted today through this legislation," he said.

Akpabio also asked the Senate leadership to check on Senator Olubiyi, noting that the committee chairman had not been seen in the chamber for some time, and asked for a report on his welfare at a later sitting.

What happens next

The bill has cleared the Senate but is not yet law. It still needs to go through the House of Representatives and be signed by the President before it can take effect.