$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 is aware of
“a significant number of arbitral awards made against Nigeria.”

He 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.

He said, “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.”

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