Environmental Federalism and Oil Spill Remediation Policy in the Niger Delta: A Comparative State Analysis

This study analyses the governance of oil spill remediation across the three core Niger Delta states of Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers, employing a comparative framework to examine whether differences in state-level environmental governance capacity, political will, and policy design produce different remediation outcomes. Environmental federalism in Nigeria is constitutionally ambiguous, with regulatory authority over the petroleum industry primarily vested in federal institutions while the environmental consequences of oil spills are most acutely felt at the state and community levels. Using a comparative qualitative design, the study draws on state environmental ministry policy documents, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency enforcement records, community impact assessments, and interviews with environmental officials, community leaders, and environmental lawyers in the three states. The environmental federalism theory and the political ecology framework are applied to examine how jurisdictional arrangements and governance capacity interact with corporate behaviour to shape remediation outcomes. Findings reveal significant variation in remediation governance quality across the three states, with Rivers State's more developed civil society ecosystem and stronger internally generated revenue enabling more proactive environmental monitoring compared to Bayelsa and Delta. However, all three states are constrained by the primacy of federal jurisdiction over petroleum regulation and the limited enforcement powers available to state environmental agencies against multinational companies. The South South geopolitical context of oil dependence, derivation politics, and community grievance shapes all three cases. Recommendations include constitutional amendments devolving concurrent oil spill regulatory powers to oil-producing states and establishing state-level environmental courts. Keywords: environmental federalism, oil spill remediation, Niger Delta, comparative state analysis, environmental governance