August 6, 2025

2 thoughts on “Supervisory Jurisdiction and the Seat: Can Nigerian Courts Still Set Aside Foreign Awards?

  1. Well put through! I appreciate the incisive analysis of the precedent. The Law Lords at the Court of Appeal might actually be trying to avoid creating any further tension in filling the legislative gap which ACA 2004 left open and only decided to stick to the general doctrine that the arbitration seats alone have supervisory jurisdiction over the entire arbitration process including a request to set its award aside. With legislative intervention of the new Arbitration Act in 2023, the Court of Appeal had saved itself enormous trouble of trying to resolve a problem they deemed was meant for the legislature created by the inadvertence of the draftsman.

  2. An interesting read. I think the Court of Appeal simply believed that in as much as the 2023 Act has come into place to provide the necessary clarity, there is really no further need for it to restate that which the Legislature has presently made provisions for. Alternatively, the court may think considering that issue would amount to more of an academic exercise, when it’s reference to the general doctrine that only arbitration seats have supervisory powers have enabled it to arrive at meritorious judgement of the appeal.

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