National Assembly to Amend PIA Host Community Provisions, House Member Reveals

Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt

The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities, Dumnamene Deekor, has revealed that Nigeria’s National Assembly plans to review key provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

This comes as stakeholders warned that implementation gaps were weakening the Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs), designed to deliver development benefits to oil-producing communities.

Deekor, disclosed this in Port Harcourt at the Host Communities Development Forum 2026 and the public presentation of the Gender-Aware Host Community Development Trust Index organised by Policy Alert.

He said lawmakers have already identified several provisions in the PIA that require legislative retooling to ensure the host community framework delivers tangible development outcomes.

“The PIA was a relief to host communities, but human laws are not without shortcomings,” Deekor said.

“As a committee and in concert with civil society organisations, we have been able to identify some apparent provisions that require legislative retooling for effective implementation of the PIA,” he added.

One of the key concerns, he noted, was the delayed establishment of several Host Community Development Trusts beyond the statutory timeline stipulated in the Act.

“The HCDTs are supposed to be established within 12 months of the PIA being passed, but it is already well beyond this timeframe.

“It is not clear what the new timeframe is, and such timelines should be communicated alongside penalties for further delays”, he said.

Deekor also called for clearer guidelines on how oil companies allocate funds to host communities, particularly in littoral areas where boundary disputes and community delineation issues continue to complicate implementation.

He further stressed the need for stronger enforcement mechanisms to ensure oil companies comply with their financial obligations to host communities.

According to him, administrative penalties alone may not sufficiently protect host communities affected by delayed or non-compliance with funding obligations.

Another critical issue raised by the lawmaker was the lack of transparency on how oil companies calculate their operational expenditure, OPEX, which forms the basis for contributions to host community funds.

“The regulator should specify uniform approaches for oil and gas companies to calculate their operational expenditure,” Deekor said.

Also speaking at the event, Executive Director of Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton-Akpan, said the new index assessed 18 trusts across Rivers and Akwa Ibom states to determine whether the host community framework is delivering on its development mandate.

“This index measures whether the promise of the Petroleum Industry Act is being kept,” Bolton-Akpan said.

He noted that while some trusts have demonstrated strong governance structures and transparency, many still struggle with accountability gaps.

“Too many trusts still operate with opacity, treating transparency as optional and accountability as something to be managed rather than embraced,” he said.

Bolton-Akpan also warned that host communities remain largely unprepared for the global energy transition despite their heavy dependence on the oil and gas sector.

“Not a single trust in this index has developed a comprehensive strategy for preparing communities for the global shift away from fossil fuels,” he said.

An Assistant Director at Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC, Mr. Success Ikpe, explained that while the PIA does not mandate gender quotas in the governance structures of Host Community Development Trusts, regulatory guidelines encourage diversity.

“Due consideration shall be given to diversity as it relates to age, gender, and physical disability in determining the criteria for appointment into the governance structures of the Trust,” he said.

He explained that, “The establishment and governance structure of the HCDT is provided for under sections 235–249 of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021. While these provisions outline the incorporation of the Trust and the composition of its governance organs, the Act does not expressly mandate gender representation in the Board of Trustees or other governance structures.

“However, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Host Communities Development Regulations 2022 introduces an inclusion requirement. Specifically, Regulation 12(4) provides that due consideration shall be given to diversity in determining the criteria for appointment into the governance structures of the Trust, including diversity relating to age, gender and physical disability.”

Ike added that, “This provision therefore provides the closest regulatory basis for promoting gender inclusion in the formation and administration of the Host Community Development Trust.”

Also contributing, Stephen Akpan of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative stressed that the region must use the PIA framework to correct decades of environmental and economic neglect.

“We have lost so much in 70 years. The environment has been destroyed, and communities are experiencing the consequences,” Akpan said.

Stakeholders at the forum agreed that without stronger enforcement, transparency and community participation, the host community trust framework risks falling short of its promise to deliver sustainable development in Nigeria’s oil-producing regions.