Theorising the Right to a Clean Environment in Nigerian Petroleum Law: Constitutional Interpretation and Judicial Activism

This study theorises the constitutional basis and judicial development of the right to a clean environment in Nigeria, examining how courts have interpreted and applied this right in petroleum-related cases and developing an original framework for strengthened judicial protection. Nigeria's 1999 Constitution does not explicitly guarantee a standalone right to a healthy environment, yet judicial and legislative developments since 2011 have begun to construct a nascent environmental rights jurisprudence. The research employs a doctrinal and theoretical methodology, analysing all reported Nigerian court decisions engaging environmental rights arguments in petroleum cases from 2000 to 2024. The National Industrial Court's environmental jurisdiction, ECOWAS Community Court decisions involving Nigeria, and comparative constitutional jurisprudence from Kenya and South Africa are also examined. Theoretical engagement draws on environmental constitutionalism scholarship, socioeconomic rights theory, and judicial activism literature. Findings construct an original three-stage model of environmental rights development in Nigeria's petroleum judiciary: declaratory, remediation-ordering, and systemic-reform phases. The study argues for constitutionally entrenching the right to a clean environment through the next constitutional amendment process and proposes a model constitutional provision. Keywords: right to clean environment, constitutional interpretation, petroleum law, Nigeria, judicial activism.