Reconstructing the Legal Foundations of Resource Federalism in Nigeria: Towards a New Constitutional Settlement

The distribution of resource governance authority in Nigeria's federal system, particularly regarding oil, gas, and solid minerals, has been a source of persistent constitutional controversy, political instability, and regional grievance since the discovery of commercial petroleum reserves in the 1950s. Existing scholarly analyses have predominantly examined resource federalism through political economy or fiscal lenses, while its deeper constitutional foundations and normative basis have received inadequate theoretical attention. This doctoral research reconstructs the legal foundations of resource federalism in Nigeria through an original theoretical framework that integrates constitutional law, international natural resources law, indigenous peoples' rights, and political philosophy. A critical legal theory methodology is employed, combining extended doctrinal analysis of the Land Use Act, the Nigerian Minerals and Mining Act, and the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 with normative theoretical analysis drawing on Rawlsian distributive justice, African communitarian ethics, and self-determination theory. Primary data was gathered through elite interviews with constitutional scholars, oil-producing community leaders, and federal and state legislators across four geopolitical zones. Secondary sources include comparative resource federalism studies from Canada, Australia, and Bolivia, and Nigerian constitutional law scholarship from 2015 to 2024. The research makes original theoretical contributions by advancing a Resource Federalism Equity Doctrine and proposing constitutional amendment language to realign resource governance authority with principles of subsidiarity and ecological responsibility. Keywords: resource federalism, constitutional law, petroleum, Land Use Act, Nigeria.