The Battle for Legislative Competence between the Arbitration and Conciliation Act of Nigeria 1988 and the Lagos State Arbitration Law 2009 – Gboremioluwa Ogundipe

An efficient system of dispute resolution is highly necessary for economic viability and sustainability of national economies. However, despite the rising profile of arbitration as an alternative means of commercial disputes resolution, Nigeria still continues to contend with the issues arising with respect to the proper construction of the provisions of the 1999 Constitution in respect of legislative competence to make laws on the subject matter of arbitration; the various perspectives that exist as to perceived divisions between international and interstate commercial arbitration and intrastate domestic arbitration with respect to the Constitutional Law principle of “the doctrine of covering the field”; and the uncertainty that continues to remain as a result of the absence of any definitive pronouncement by the Nigerian Supreme Court. All these issues continue to have the unwanted effect of portraying arbitration as a less attractive option for settlement of disputes in Nigeria.
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