arbitration / adr news

Chartered Arbitrators seek Buhari's assent to bill on alternative dispute resolution

22 November 2022

By Yetunde Ayobami Ojo 

The Registrar and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators (NICArb), Mrs. Shola Oshodi-John, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign into law the Arbitration Act, which has already been passed by the Senate.

Oshodi-John said signing the Act would portray Nigeria positively on the global map as a dispute resolution-friendly country and attract investment into the country.

She disclosed this while addressing reporters in Lagos on the institute’s 2022 Conference, with the theme: ‘The Future of Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Africa: Developments and Sustainability’, scheduled to hold from November 24 to 25.

Oshodi-John said: “For Nigeria to be taken seriously, internationally, Mr. President needs to sign the bill into law before leaving office. Without the new Arbitration Act in place, all we do, in terms of trying to put Nigeria out there as a friendly dispute resolution country, would be more of rhetoric than reality.”

She added: “The world is now a global village. And Africa, being a part, has, in the last two years, had the privilege of having conversations around the Africa free trade agreement. Nigeria has a lot, as a country, in terms of natural and human resources and should not be caught napping, specifically, with opportunities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, so that the country can measure up with the world.”

In his remarks, the Chairman, Organising Committee of the conference, Mr. Uche Obi (SAN), said the theme would speak to quite a number of novel issues around arbitration and ADR.

Obi harped on the need for effective conflict resolution to drive economic growth, saying: “The beautiful thing about this is that when a country has an efficient dispute resolution mechanism, it will attract investment.”

Source: Guardian Newspapers