Nigeria's National Assembly reviews three Bills to effect change in arbitration in Nigeria | Practical Law

Nigeria's National Assembly reviews three Bills to effect change in arbitration in Nigeria | Practical Law

Kamal Shah (Partner) and Antony Singh (Trainee), Stephenson Harwood.

Nigeria's National Assembly reviews three Bills to effect change in arbitration in Nigeria

Published on 01 Dec 2010 • Nigeria
Kamal Shah (Partner) and Antony Singh (Trainee), Stephenson Harwood.
In a move to ensure that Nigeria becomes the new hub for the arbitration of commercial disputes in and beyond the West African sub-region, three Bills are currently being reviewed by the National Assembly in Nigeria.
The National Assembly is considering Bill No.HB.282, Bill No.HB.283 and Bill No.HB.285.
The purpose of Bill 282 is to enact legislation creating a new centre for arbitration and ADR in Nigeria. The new centre will:
  • Be responsible for advising state and federal government on all matters involving arbitration.
  • Encourage the promotion of arbitration in Nigeria, in particular by encouraging Nigerians to arbitrate within Nigeria, instead of agreeing to arbitrate in a foreign jurisdiction. (Currently, businesses prefer to arbitrate disputes involving a Nigerian transaction outside Nigeria, which has resulted in capital being directed away from the country).
  • Offer an alternative to the often time consuming and bureaucratic Nigerian court system.
However, opponents of the centre argue that its establishment is an unnecessary duplication of the functions and objectives of the already formed Lagos Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration.
The effect of Bill 283 is to establish a new national arbitration commission, whose purpose will be to centralise all matters involving arbitration centres. The commission will:
  • Establish rules on how an arbitration centre can be set up in Nigeria.
  • Govern a new system of accreditation of arbitrators.
  • Decide on training and practice of arbitrators.
The new commission will offer many benefits, such as reassurance to the international business community of a high international accredited standard of Nigerian arbitrators. This will hopefully encourage more arbitrations to be held in Nigeria. However, opponents argue that the Bill, if passed, may be viewed by the international business community as interfering with the already established self-regulatory arbitration bodies in Nigeria, for example the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Nigeria Branch. Opponents suggest that if the requirement of accreditation applies to foreign arbitrators this will actually discourage foreign participation in the arbitral process.
Bill 285 seeks to bring about reform in the law relating to commercial arbitration and conciliation and will modify Nigeria's existing Arbitration and Conciliation Act 2004 (ACA 2004). The Bill will ensure that Nigeria has an arbitration regime which meets with international standards, reinforcing the idea of Nigeria as an international arbitral hub.
With the Nigerian economy growing steadily and Nigeria experiencing a high influx of foreign companies and investment into the country, it may be the right time for these Bills. At best, it could alter the negative perception the international business community sometimes has about resolving disputes in Nigeria.