X-raying the Bounds of Polluter Pays Principle as an Environmental Protection Tool in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry

Abstract

This paper takes a cursory look at the concept of „Polluter Pays Principle?, PPP as an environmental protection instrument in the Nigerian oil and gas industry. It found that environmental pollution is a major challenge confronting the Nigerian oil and gas industry and reiterated that the concept remains an invaluable tool for restoring the environment- in that compensation was essential to the restoration of the environment whenever there is any form of environmental pollution which are direct consequences of oil exploration and production activities. This study argues that the lingering challenges of oil pollution in the Nigerian environmental space in the oil-producing communities would have been adequately catered for if the laws were not obsolete and anachronistic. This study takes a multi- disciplinary approach that covers law, environmental management and toxicology. A number of recommendations were therefore suggested to make the principle more effective and minimise the deleterious effects of environmental pollution