The National Assembly has indicated plans to review key provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) amid concerns by stakeholders that gaps in implementation are weakening the Host Community Development Trusts (HCDTs) established to deliver development benefits to oil-producing communities.

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Host Communities, Dumnamene Deekor, said lawmakers have identified several aspects of the PIA that require legislative retooling to ensure the host community framework produces tangible development outcomes.

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

According to him, although the PIA was widely welcomed by host communities, certain provisions require adjustment to improve implementation and make it achieve the set objectives and target.

“The PIA was a relief to host communities, but human laws are not without shortcomings,” he said, noting that the committee, in collaboration with civil society organisations, had identified provisions that require legislative refinement for effective implementation.

Deekor expressed concern over delays in establishing several HCDTs beyond the statutory timeline provided in the Act.

“The HCDTs are expected to be established within 12 months of the PIA coming into force, but the process has exceeded that timeline in many instances,” he said, adding that new timelines should be clearly communicated and accompanied by penalties for further delays.

He 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 often complicate implementation.

“You cannot leave the determination of host communities solely to the settlors,” he said.
The lawmaker further stressed the need for stronger enforcement mechanisms to ensure oil companies comply with their financial obligations to host communities.

“It would be helpful to explicitly state the penalties that oil and gas companies will face for failing to make their contributions on time,” he said, adding that administrative penalties alone may not adequately protect communities affected by delayed or non-compliance with funding obligations.

Deekor also raised concerns about the lack of transparency in 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. This transparency will enable communities, civil society organisations and the National Assembly to verify that the trusts are receiving their rightful allocations,” he said.

Also speaking, Executive Director of Policy Alert, Tijah Bolton-Akpan, said the new index assessed 18 trusts across Rivers State and Akwa Ibom State to determine whether the host community framework is fulfilling 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 improved 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 assessed in this index has developed a comprehensive strategy to prepare communities for the global shift away from fossil fuels,” he said.

A representative of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Success Ikpe, explained that while the PIA does not mandate gender quotas in the governance structures of HCDTs, regulatory guidelines encourage diversity.

He said due consideration should be given to diversity in terms of age, gender and physical disability when determining appointments into the governance structures of the trusts.

Also contributing, Stephen Akpan of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative stressed the need to leverage the PIA framework to address decades of environmental and economic neglect in oil-producing communities.

“We have lost so much in 70 years. The environment has been degraded, and communities are living with the consequences,” he said.

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