ABUJA - The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday said a bill for an act to amend the National Oil Spill Detection and Response (NOSDRA) Act 2006 passed second reading.

The bill sponsored by Senator Bukola Saraki seeks to put in place a robust penalty regime for oil spill to encourage environmental responsibility and care.

Senate President David Mark called on those charged with the responsibility of implementing the law to be honest.

He said most of the environmental challenges facing the country would have been averted if they had taken their responsibilities seriously.

Saraki in his lead debate said that Nigeria had lost over 13 million barrels of oil to preventable spill.

He said the amendment to the act was to strengthen the institutional and regulatory capacity of NOSDRA to proactively manage oil spill in a more effective manner.

The senator called for an effective legislative framework for oil spill management in the country.

According to him, the framework would reduce environmental challenges arising from oil spill and provide enough deterrent for bad environmental habits.