A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF THE SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACCOUNTABILITY PRACTICES OF LISTED NIGERIAN OIL AND GAS COMPANIES

Activities of the Nigerian oil and gas industry are fraught with lots of social and environmental negative effects such as displacement of settlements to allow for exploration, production and transportation of crude oil and refined products, loss of traditional means of livelihood, food shortage, lost of cultural values and traditional institutions, destruction of biodiversity, terrestrial and aquatic environments, water and air pollution, oil spill and gas flaring which is a significant contributor to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions causing global warming and climate change. Indeed, exploration activities and consumption of oil, gas and related products accounted for 95 million metric tonnes of CO2 out of the 96 million metric tonnes emitted in 2016. Therefore, the aim of this study is to longitudinally assess the social and environmental accountability practices of listed Nigerian oil and gas companies. To achieve this aim, modified word counts content analysis of annual reports and accounts of sampled companies is employed to obtain data on the social and environmental accountability of sampled companies 2004 ? 2018. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) disclosure guideline is used to benchmark the disclosure accountability practices of sampled companies. Descriptive statistical tools are employed to present collected data while vulnerability and exploitability analytical framework is employed to give insights into the disclosure practices. Findings indicated that sampled oil and gas companies are exploiting the vulnerabilities of host communities, Nigerian governments and citizens in their disclosure accountability by making more social disclosure on issues that concerns employees and managers while making little environmental disclosure.