Appraisal of Nigerian Arbitration and Conciliation Act

Arbitration is a private consensual means of resolving disputes and is the most institutionalized of all the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms. The principal Act for regulating Arbitration and Conciliation in Nigeria is the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Nigerian Act) enacted in 1988. The objectives of the Nigerian Act include providing a unified legal framework for the fair and efficient settlement of commercial disputes by arbitration and conciliation and to make applicable the New York Convention to any award made in Nigeria or in any contracting State arising out of international commercial arbitration. This book aims at establishing that the legal framework for arbitration and conciliation in Nigeria is neither unified nor adequate and efficient but could be made more efficacious for the benefit of Nigerians and foreign investors alike by enhancing party autonomy and minimizing if not obviating undue judicial intervention in arbitration. This book concludes that the enactment of a new Nigerian Act modeled after the new Model Law and Rules is an imperative for the Nigerian business and regulatory environment.