Nigeria’s Peoples Wellbeing Association plans to file suit in an Abuja high court to stop the renewal of lucrative pipeline surveillance contracts, which it says are unfairly concentrated among a handful of operators.
The legal challenge, announced Tuesday, aims to force a more equitable split of the contracts across oil-producing states in the Niger Delta, arguing that the current setup undermines efficiency, transparency and regional stability.
“This exclusionary arrangement threatens peace and national security,” said Aliyu Sadiq, head of the group’s legal unit, in a statement.
Pipeline surveillance has become a multimillion-dollar business since the Niger Delta amnesty program launched in 2009 to curb oil theft and militancy.
Critics, including the PWA, contend that dominance by a few players—allegedly linked to former militant leaders—frustrates other stakeholders and erodes the program’s goals of inclusion and sustainable development.
Decentralizing the contracts, Sadiq said, would empower states and communities to monitor assets locally, cutting vulnerabilities in protecting Nigeria’s critical oil infrastructure, which underpins the nation’s top export earner.
The group wants a court injunction to halt renewals until broader participation is ensured.
The push comes amid reforms in Nigeria’s oil sector under President Bola Tinubu and petroleum minister Bayo Ojulari, whom the PWA praised for economic advances.
Still, it urges the government to prioritize fairness in contract awards to bolster the country’s global energy standing.
