$9.6bn judgement: There’re significant arbitral awards against Nigeria, Agbakoba tells Buhari

A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has told President Muhammadu Buhari he was aware of “a significant number of arbitral awards made against Nigeria.”

He, therefore, advised the Federal Government to undertake an immediate and urgent audit to determine the extent of the awards.

While expressing concern about the $9.6bn arbitral award against Nigeria in favour of a British firm, Process and Industrial Developments Limited, Agbakoba said the development had shown that Nigeria needed a National Arbitration Policy.

He said this in a September 2, 2019 letter addressed to Buhari.

He said had the Federal Government heeded the advice to establish a National Arbitration Policy over the years, the P&ID imbroglio would not have arisen.

He advised the President to issue an Executive Order for the establishment of a National Arbitration Policy.

Agbakoba said this was important in order to forestall P&ID-like situations in the future.

According to him, “A National Arbitration Policy promotes national interest by ensuring that the resolution of disputes between Nigeria and foreign investors in relation to government contracts will be determined by institutional arbitration mechanisms, which will have the seat of arbitration in Nigeria. Please note that some countries have already enacted National Arbitration Policies.

“Going forward, I suggest that we establish a National Arbitration policy, represented by an enactment of an Executive Order that will commence the process and procedure of creating the policy. This will ensure that Nigeria’s interests are protected in its commercial relationships with foreign investors.”