Senate Accuses Oil Companies Of Hiding Under Weak Laws To Perpetrate Oil Spillage In Nigeria, Moves To Amend Nosdra Act.

The Senate has refuted claims by oil companies operating in the country that 70 percent of oil spills are as a result of sabotage.

The Chairman Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, Senator Bukola Saraki at a stakeholders meeting on the amendment of the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency NOSDRA  in Abuja said that fifty percent of oil spills in Nigeria are due to corrosion of oil infrastructure including pipelines that are 40-50 years old.

Senator Saraki noted that oil companies, whose negligence is the major cause of oil spills in the country, hide under the weakness of the oil pipeline Act to escape liability. 

                   

The lawmaker however said that the proposed amendment to NOSDRA Act 2006 will compel polluters to pay compensation to individuals and communities who may have suffer from the impact of oil spills.