Oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta, under the aegis of the Niger Delta Roundtable, have called on President Bola Tinubu to decentralise pipeline surveillance contracts and grant greater participation to host communities in protecting oil infrastructure.
The group made the call in a statement issued after an emergency meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The statement, signed by Dr Taro Theophilus, said spreading surveillance responsibilities across states and communities would ensure that those most affected by oil exploration play a direct role in safeguarding national assets.
According to the stakeholders, a review of the current arrangement showed that illegal bunkering and asset vandalism remained prevalent despite the surveillance contract. They cited data attributed to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the Central Bank of Nigeria, stating that Nigeria lost 93.74 million barrels of crude oil and condensate production against budget targets in the first eight months of 2025.
They added that at an average Bonny Light price of $73.06 per barrel, the volume translated to $6.85bn in revenue not realised. The stakeholders noted that the pipeline surveillance arrangement was introduced to curb such losses but argued that production shortfalls persisted.
“In the first eight months of 2025, Nigeria lost 93.74 million barrels of crude oil and condensate production against its own budget targets. At Bonny Light’s average price of $73.06 per barrel, that is $6.85bn in revenue that Nigeria produced for no one. These are not opposition figures. They come from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s own data, confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The pipeline surveillance contract was commissioned to prevent exactly this. It has not,” the statement disclosed.
The group further stated that the 2025 Federal Government budget assumed daily production of 2.06 million barrels, while actual output averaged 1.673 million barrels per day. It argued that this represented a shortfall of about 390,000 barrels daily and indicated that Nigeria met its OPEC quota of 1.5 million barrels per day in only three months of the year.
The statement also referenced fiscal implications, noting that the oil sector recorded a combined revenue gap of N941.23bn in July and August 2025. It added that over seven months, the oil revenue shortfall reached N18.61tn when measured against prorated budget targets.
The stakeholders said illegal bunkering networks had continued to operate and that discoveries of illegal refining activities in parts of the country suggested that operators were adapting to existing surveillance measures. They argued that a centralised contract covering the entire pipeline network lacked competitive pressure and enforceable performance standards.
“The discovery of major illegal refining operations as far inland as Abia State in early 2026 is evidence of a criminal enterprise that has studied the boundaries of the current surveillance model and learned to operate beyond them. A single contractor covers a fixed perimeter; organised oil theft does not,” it was stated.
The group emphasised that the Niger Delta spans multiple states and communities with local knowledge that could enhance surveillance if responsibilities were distributed. According to them, decentralisation would also spread economic benefits across the region and eliminate the risks associated with concentrating surveillance responsibilities in a single structure.
The group, therefore, urged the Federal Government to introduce a transparent and competitive decentralisation process with enforceable performance standards and penalties for underperformance.
The stakeholders added that empowering communities to participate in pipeline protection would strengthen accountability and potentially improve revenue flows to the federation account.
“President Tinubu has 37 billion barrels of proven reserves beneath the Niger Delta and an ambition to produce three million barrels per day by 2030. The Niger Delta’s communities are not asking to inherit a problem. They are offering to solve one. They know these waters. They know these pipelines. They know who is stealing and where.
“Decentralise this contract. Give the Niger Delta the mandate and the accountability structure to protect its own resource base. The federation account will feel the difference,” the statement concluded.
