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A Port Harcourt roundtable warned that investor-state arbitration provisions, including in the 1992 Nigeria-Netherlands BIT, could chill environmental regulation.
Civil society organisations, host community representatives and researchers called on the Federal Government to review Nigeria’s bilateral investment treaties in a communiqué issued after a roundtable on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), energy transition and investment governance in Port Harcourt on 16 September 2026. The meeting was convened by Policy Alert with the Social Development Integrated Network and ActionAid, supported by the Centre for Research on Multinational Corporations.
Concerns
Participants focused on ISDS provisions in Nigeria’s BITs, including the 1992 Nigeria-Netherlands BIT. They warned of a “chilling effect” on environmental and climate regulation because investors could bring arbitration claims, and identified Shell’s offshore investments in the Bonga field, the government’s Decade of Gas initiative and continuing divestment of onshore oil assets as developments that could expose Nigeria to investment claims.
Legal context
Nigeria has signed more than 30 BITs, several in force, and is party to the ICSID Convention. The Netherlands treaty is significant because many international oil company investments are structured through Dutch holding companies. Many older treaties contain broad fair and equitable treatment clauses and survival clauses that keep protections in force for years after termination. Nigeria has faced large claims, most notably the P&ID award later set aside by the English High Court for fraud, and recently defeated the Sunrise Power claim over the Mambilla project.
Why it matters
Treaty renegotiation, termination or interpretive statements are possible responses, and several African states have terminated or renegotiated older BITs. Newer model treaties, including the AfCFTA Investment Protocol, preserve regulatory space for environmental and public health measures. For investors, a review would affect structuring decisions: holding structures chosen for treaty protection should be reviewed if treaties change. For the government, the challenge is to preserve investor confidence during the energy transition while retaining freedom to regulate environmental liabilities, including decommissioning obligations of divesting companies.
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