A United Nations panel of human rights experts has accused Nigerian oil regulators and government officials, including President Bola Tinubu of collusion and corruption in their handling of multi-billion dollar divestment deals between the country’s petroleum authorities and four international oil majors – Shell, Eni, ExxonMobil, and TotalEnergies. The experts say the sales were approved without ensuring accountability for decades of pollution in the Niger Delta, leaving communities devastated by oil spills and toxic discharges with no compensation or clean up funds.
UN’s Findings
In letters dated July 2 and published this week, the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights charged that the divestments were conducted “without following a human rights based approach and against international law obligations.” The panel warned that Nigeria is being used as an “experiment for divestment without clean up,” setting a dangerous precedent for other fossil fuel dependent nations. The experts accused Nigerian officials of rubber stamping asset transfers worth billions of dollars – Shell’s $2.4 billion sale to Renaissance, Eni’s $783 million deal with Oando, ExxonMobil’s $1.3 billion sale to Seplat Energy, and TotalEnergies’ planned $860 million divestment – without requiring the companies to pay for environmental restoration or compensate affected communities.
Niger Delta Communities Left Behind
The Niger Delta, home to millions, has endured decades of oil spills, gas flaring, and toxic wastewater discharges. In Bayelsa State alone, the local environment commission estimates the clean up bill at $12 billion. Campaigners fear that the Nigerian buyers of these assets lack the financial capacity to shoulder such costs. Tobechukwu Diolu, an environmental defender with the Lincgreen Initiative, said the UN’s intervention validates years of community demands: “Justice must come first before any transition. Decommissioning cannot be abandoned.”
Oil Majors Respond
• Shell insisted it conducts divestments responsibly, screening buyers for technical and financial capacity, and said its sale to Renaissance was approved after “extensive review” by Nigeria’s government.
• Eni rejected the accusations, claiming it had remediated “100% of spills” on its joint venture assets and met statutory obligations under Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Act.
• ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies did not respond to the UN letters.
Nigerian Officials Under Fire
The UN experts also criticized Nigeria’s Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for approving the deals without enforcing accountability. They warned that the government’s actions raise “serious concerns as to its fulfilment of its obligation to protect human rights, including the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.” Civil society groups say the approvals reflect entrenched corruption within Nigeria’s oil bureaucracy, where regulators allegedly prioritize political patronage and foreign investment over environmental justice.
Global Implications
Letters were also sent to the governments of Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, the U.S., and France, accusing them of failing to regulate companies headquartered in their jurisdictions. Advocacy groups like the Polluter Pays Project argue that the UN’s findings strengthen ongoing lawsuits in Nigerian and international courts, including a landmark case in Britain brought by the Bille and Ogale communities against Shell.
The UN’s intervention has turned the spotlight not only on the oil majors but also on Nigerian officials accused of enabling “divestment without accountability.” As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, the Niger Delta risks becoming a cautionary tale of how corruption and weak governance can leave communities to bear the toxic legacy of oil wealth.