History was made on Friday, 26th May 2023, as the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, signed into law the Arbitration and Mediation Act, 2023 (“The Act”) repealing the Arbitration and Conciliation Act Chapter A.18, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 which has been in force for over 35 years now.

The Act, while embracing international best practices in Arbitration, took precedence from the repealed legislation, its oversight, shortcomings and inadequacies and birthed a well and improved set of provisions and further provided a unified legal framework for the fair and efficient settlement of commercial disputes via Arbitration and Mediation channels in Nigeria.

This work examines the novel provisions and a holistic review of the new Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023.

NOVEL PROVISIONS

1. OBJECTIVE OF THE 2023 ACT: Section 1 of the Arbitration and Mediation Act of 2023 provides for the objective of the Act, which is to promote the fair resolution of disputes by an impartial tribunal without necessary delay or expense. This provision was not provided for in the Defunct Arbitration and Conciliation Act LFN 2004 (the “ACA”). This provision mirrors the current style of legislation in Nigeria which usually commences with the Objective of such Legislation.

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