Oil Surveillance: Reps Panel Clears PINL, Okunbo, Petitioners Fail to Provide Evidence
A subcommittee of the House of Representatives has found no evidence to support allegations against Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (PINL) and its Executive Director, Dr. Osahon Okunbo, and has recommended that the petition against them be thrown out.
Constituted under the House Committee on Host Communities, the panel was set up to examine a petition dated September 5, 2026 from the Niger Delta Oil-Producing Communities Reform Movement (ND-OCRIM), which challenged PINL’s pipeline surveillance contract.
The petitioners made five claims, including that the contract was not properly executed; that contract funds were mismanaged, that PINL’s finances required a forensic review and that the executive director spent money on personal matters.
Besides, the petitioner alleged that the welfare of field workers had been neglected. However, no documents or proof of any kind accompanied them.
The Committee nonetheless referred the petition for a proper hearing. Proceedings followed the rules of the House and the principle of fair hearing, with the Committee’s Deputy Clerk serving as secretary.
ND-OCRIM was invited three times, on September 14; September 22 and October 5, 2026, and failed to turn up on each occasion. It sent no one in its place, gave no reason and brought no evidence. No other stakeholder appeared.
However, PINL did appear. Its representative submitted a written document: “The Impact of PINL Operations on Oil Production and Stability of the Niger Delta,” supported by location-tagged photographs. Nobody challenged it. Hearings closed on October 7, 2026.
The submission set out the conditions PINL met on arrival. By May 2022, according to the company, 97 of every 100 barrels of crude pumped into the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) were being lost. Force majeure had been declared, and national output had fallen below 900,000 barrels per day.
PINL, engaged in August 2022, said it now works across all 215 host communities and engages more than 35,600 community members. Its operations are supported by 28 forward bases, 130 boats, 175 vehicles, 25 drones and 454 personnel from government security agencies.
The company reported that the share of crude reaching the Bonny Terminal through the TNP rose from 3 per cent in May 2022 to 98 per cent in September 2026. It said the OML 11 field was restarted within 90 days after an 18-month shut-in, that 2,049 illegal connections were repaired and that 1,010 illegal refinery clusters were destroyed.
It also pointed to its work in host communities, citing more than 5,000 scholarships, skills training for over 4,000 women and girls, and flood relief for more than 10 communities in Rivers State.
In its findings, the panel said PINL’s submission directly answered the claims about how the work was done. It also admitted a gap: the submission did not address the claims about contract funds or personal spending. On those two matters, its findings rest on the petitioners’ failure to bring any evidence.
On welfare, members noted PINL’s palliative and food bank support and found no sign of neglect. They described PINL as a well-organised company with a strong structure, well regarded in its host communities, and said no evidence backs any claim against Okunbo.
Twelve recommendations followed. The panel asked the full Committee to dismiss the petition, end any further investigation, and record the claims against PINL and Dr. Okunbo as unproven, while noting that affected parties keep their legal rights.
Also, it asked the Committee to acknowledge PINL’s work in protecting pipelines and its programmes in host communities, urged the company to sustain that work and look after its field staff, and recommended that the federal government extend PINL’s contract.
Commendation was also sought for President Bola Tinubu, for sustaining security reforms in the oil and gas industry; the National Security Adviser (NSA), for coordinating the protection of pipelines as well as the management of NNPC Limited.
They also lauded the pipeline security firms including PINL and Tantita Security Services Nigeria Limited and further asked the Committee to pass a vote of confidence in all of them.
But the report is not yet final. Dated October 7, 2026, it has been submitted to the full Committee for consideration and adoption, and the signature lines for the Chairman, four members and the Secretary were blank in the copy seen.