A joint sitting of two House of Representatives committees has firmly rejected growing calls to break up the national pipeline surveillance contract into smaller pieces. Instead, the lawmakers endorsed a long-term renewal for Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited, the firm currently handling the sensitive assignment. The decision came at the end of a retreat in Owerri, Imo State, where the Committee on Host Communities and the Committee on Public Petitions met with Niger Delta stakeholders.
The retreat, which carried the theme of strengthening pipeline surveillance through host community partnerships under the Petroleum Industry Act of 2021, concluded on Wednesday that existing laws already provide a workable decentralised structure. According to the joint committee’s final resolutions signed on May 27, 2026, sections 234 to 258 of the PIA establish host communities development trusts and a mandatory three percent operating expenditure contribution from oil firms. Lawmakers argued that this legal framework already guarantees real operational involvement for oil-producing communities without further breaking up the current security contract.
Participants at the retreat dismissed fresh demands for more decentralisation as baseless and harmful to the Niger Delta. They accused those leading the agitation of pursuing personal contract interests disguised as community advocacy. In a unanimous vote of confidence, the joint committee declared that Tantita Security Services, working in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has shown demonstrable effectiveness in curbing crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism. The lawmakers therefore urged the federal government and NNPCL to grant the company a long-term contract extension to consolidate the gains already recorded.
The joint committee also praised President Bola Tinubu, the NNPCL, and the Office of the National Security Adviser for their roles in restoring peace and protecting Nigeria’s oil infrastructure. Beyond the pipeline security debate, the lawmakers resolved to push for an amendment to the Petroleum Industry Act that would raise host community funding from the current three percent to six percent of oil companies’ operating expenditure. The additional resources, they explained, would support infrastructure, youth empowerment, environmental cleanup, and sustainable development across the Niger Delta.
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