Reclaiming Nigeria's Natural Resource Frontiers after AG Federation v AG Abia & 35 Ors

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Author	Peter C Obutte and Lilian Idiaghe

ReclaimingNigeria’sNaturalResource

FrontiersafterAGFederationvs.AGAbia&

35Ors



PeterCObutte*&LilianIdiaghe**



Naturalresourceendowmentisnotamatterofchoice

foranycountry,thoughresource‐richStateshavea

choiceonhowtheyappropriateandmanagetheir

resourcewealth.Naturalresourcerevenuesarefinite

innatureandassuchtheyrequiresustainable

managementanduse.Whileitisnecessaryforthe

purposeoffiscalequitiese.g.,cohesionandpromotion

ofharmonyinsharingpetroleumrevenuesbetween

theFederalGovernmentandtheoilproducingareas,

lackofconsensualfiscalmodelpresentsachallengein

amulti–levelgovernanceofafederalsystemsuchas

Nigeria.Differentsharingformulashavebeen

employedovertheyearswithsameoccasioning

differentreactionsfromthefederatingunits.

ResourcecontrolandallocationinNigeriahasbeen

madeparticularlyfamousbythedecisionofthe

SupremeCourtinAttorneyGeneraloftheFederation

v.AttorneyGeneralofAbiaStateand35othersand

theAllocationofRevenue(AbolitionofDichotomyin

theApplicationofthePrincipleofDerivation)Act

2004respectively.Thefarreachingimplicationsof

thatdecisionandtheActincludeagravedelimitation

ofNigeria’sterritorialandnaturalresourcefrontiers

asguaranteedundernationalandinternationallaw.

Thepaperestablishesthatthesefrontiershavebeen

158SLJ5(1)



rolledbackwardsintheattempttoconferontheoil‐

producingstates,lessthanwhattheConstitution

guaranteesthem.Thepaperfurtherarguesthatthe

provisotoSection162(2)onexploitationofNigeria’s

createsanimpetusforthedevelopmentofthenation’s

otherviablemineralresourcesapartfromoilandgas

ontheonehand;andtheneedfortheSupremeCourt

torevisitthedecisioninthebestinterestofthe

country.



Introduction



Theoptimumutilisationofnaturalresourcesrequires

crediblemanagementandadministrativeeffectiveness.Ithas

beennotedthatthefirstchallengefacinganyresource‐rich

countryisensuringthepublicisabletoextractasmuchof

thevalueofresourcesthatliebeneathitslandaspossible.

Evenincountrieswithstableandmaturedemocracies,there

isanongoingstrugglebyoilandgasandminingcompanies

toseizeasmuchofthewealthforthemselvesastheypossibly

can.1ThesituationisnodifferentinNigeria,whereinthe

*PeterCObutteholdsadoctoratedegreeinLawofthe

UniversityofOslo,NorwayandisaSeniorLecturerinthe

DepartmentofJurisprudenceandInternationalLaw,Facultyof

Law,UniversityofIbadan,Nigeria.HeisalsoCo‐Investigator

andDeputyDirectoroftheCenterforPetroleum,Energy

EconomicsandLaw(CPEEL),UniversityofIbadan.

**LilianIdigheholdsadoctoratedegreeinEnergyLawofthe

UniversityofIbadanandisaResearchFellowattheCenterfor

Petroleum,EnergyEconomicsandLaw(CPEEL),Universityof

Ibadan,Nigeria.

1JosephStiglitz,MakingGlobalizationWork(Penguin2007)138.

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