The Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Chambers of Commerce Dispute Resolution Centre (NCC-DRC) has commended stakeholders and particularly the National Assembly on the passage of the Arbitration and Mediation Bill.
The Bill which seeks to Repeal the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Cap A18, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 and enact the Arbitration and Mediation Act, 2022 was passed by the Senate on Tuesday, May 10, 2022 and now awaits the assent of President Muhammadu Buhari.
In a statement signed by the Chairman of the Governing Council, Chief Emeka J. P. Obegolu SAN, Ph.D., he stated that he received the news of the passage of the Bill with immense joy not only for the NCCDRC but the entire ADR community.
The statement noted “The Bill amongst other things, seeks to provide for a unified legal framework for the settlement of commercial disputes and recognizes and enforces the New York convention on foreign arbitration awards to any award made in Nigeria or any contracting state arising out of international commercial arbitration. The Bill also seeks the application of the Singapore convention on the international settlement agreements resulting from mediation, amongst other commendable innovations.”
Chief Obegolu commended major stakeholders who have contributed their quota in one way or the other to ensure that the Bill was passed into law and called on the President to assent to the Bill.
He added that the Nigerian Chambers of Commerce Dispute Resolution Centre (NCC-DRC) a center established and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities to provide world class dispute resolution services is well positioned to provide the necessary support in implementation of the Bill when passed into Law.
According to him, “The journey to the passage of this Bill has been a very long but fruitful one. The roles played by all the stakeholders on the road to the passage of the Bill will always be remembered. I therefore commend members of the National Assembly who saw to the passage of this Bill. When this bill is finally assented to, its role and effect cannot be overemphasized. I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently assent to this bill. Congratulations to the ADR community. This is indeed a great achievement with many more to come.”
