ARBITRAL AWARDS AND SETTLEMENT OF DISPUTES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

No doubt, as man exists and relates with his fellow man in the society disputes/differences are sure to arise at any stage of their relationship as they are part of human existence. These disputes or differences mostly arise out of or in the course of business, commercial, contractual, matrimonial, political, communal, industrial, international relationships, requiring the intervention of a neutral third party, if the parties involved are not minded to resort to self help or the courts to settle same. It is against this backdrop that parties, in the course of their business or contract relationships, may agree to refer any dispute or differences that arise between them to a neutral party, which could be a person or a number of persons called arbitrator(s) or arbitral tribunal, as the case may be, to settle such dispute or difference between them in a judicial manner and come up with a final decision called an arbitral award. When this is done, the arbitrator(s) or arbitral tribunal is functus officio. In this article, we are going to look at the meaning of awards, types of awards, contents of awards, and reasons/purposes for awards. The doctrinal research methodology is adopted; reliance is also placed on case laws.