Concerns over the N16.2 trillion credit extended by Nigerian banks to the oil and gas sector in the first quarter of 2026 dominated discussions on Tuesday as stakeholders demanded greater accountability from financial institutions financing extractive activities in Akwa Ibom.
The sector accounted for 24.1 per cent of total bank lending during the period, making it the largest recipient of bank credit, according to figures presented by Dr Idongesit Ashameri, Managing Director/CEO of VirValCher Nigeria Limited, during a Radio Conversation on “Fund Our Future: Financing Oil Extraction, Accountability and a Just Future for Akwa Ibom State.”
The programme, held on XL106.9 FM and supported by ActionAid Nigeria and the Clement Isong Foundation, brought together Ashameri and Mr Mfon Gabriel, Executive Director, Ibom Peer Foundation, as guests, with Mbetobong John, Climate Justice Inspirator, ActionAid Nigeria, as host.
Ashameri argued that the scale of financial exposure to oil and gas meant banks could not treat their lending decisions as separate from the environmental and social consequences of the activities they finance.
“Finance is not neutral. Every loan shapes environmental and social outcomes,” she said, stressing that financial institutions had leverage to demand stronger environmental safeguards, human-rights compliance and community participation from oil and gas companies receiving their funds.
She said responsible financing should begin before a loan was approved, with banks conducting environmental and social risk assessments, climate-risk analysis and community consultations, while making compliance with environmental and human-rights standards enforceable conditions of financing.
Ashameri further argued that communities should know which financial institutions were backing companies operating in their environment, saying such transparency would give residents another avenue to demand accountability when pollution, gas flaring or other environmental violations occurred.
While the discussion examined the financial side of extraction, Gabriel presented the human and livelihood consequences being reported by affected communities across Akwa Ibom.
He cited gas-flaring concerns in Onna, where he said some homes were located as close as 118 metres from flare stacks, exposing residents to intense heat, sleeplessness, heat rashes and respiratory problems.
According to Gabriel, chemical spills have also contaminated drinking-water sources in Oruk Anam, affecting six communities, while residents of communities in Ikono and Ibiono Ibom have reported declining crop yields, destruction of economic trees and the disappearance of fish and snails from polluted streams.
He also cited Ntafre in Ibeno Local Government Area, where he said a recent spill contaminated a creek, killed aquatic life and deprived fishermen of their means of livelihood, with some residents still relying on the polluted water because they had no alternative source.
“The communities are paying the price for pollution they did not create,” Gabriel said, calling for stronger accountability mechanisms that would compel operators and their financiers to address environmental damage.
The speakers also advocated a shift in financial priorities towards renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, mangrove restoration, green-skills development and community-owned enterprises as part of a just transition from an economy heavily dependent on fossil fuels.
Ashameri called on banks to develop clear fossil-fuel financing policies, establish timelines for reducing oil and gas exposure and require clients to present credible transition plans, while also disclosing financed emissions and undertaking human-rights and biodiversity due diligence.
For Gabriel, however, a just transition must go beyond replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy.
“Success would mean Akwa Ibom communities breathing clean air, drinking safe water and farming without fear of spills,” he said, adding that abandoned oil facilities must be remediated while affected communities are provided with opportunities in emerging green industries.
The radio conversation also highlighted demands for greater transparency in Host Community Development Trusts, stronger accountability for gas flaring and the institutionalisation of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) before extractive or major infrastructure projects are undertaken.
Ashameri said the ultimate test would be whether the country’s financial system began directing more capital towards cleaner and community-centred economic activities.
“Success would mean Nigerian banks have abandoned the fiction that finance is neutral,” he said, advocating a financial system in which oil and gas exposure declines while funding increases for renewable energy, climate-resilient agriculture and community-owned enterprises.
The conversation formed part of growing calls for financial accountability in the extractive sector, placing banks—not only oil companies and regulators—at the centre of discussions on environmental protection, community rights and the future of oil-producing communities in Akwa Ibom.
