Nigeria loses over N1.81trn to contract dispute cases - Abuja Chamber

Nigeria has lost over N1.81 trillion ($5 billion) over the years resolving contract disputes that could have been resolved at less cost using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism.

This was revealed by the President of Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, yesterday, while inaugurating the planning committee for an upcoming government contract dispute resolution workshop in Abuja.

Prince Kayode said most of the contract disputes were related to contract cancellations, cost adjustments and delays.

He said there was need for contractors and government agencies to explore alternative means of dispute resolution such as that being provided by the ACCI’s Dispute Resolution Centre (DRC) to save cost and time.

He said contract disputes dragged for about five to eight years in court and cost huge amount of money for parties involved.

The ACCI boss said the DRC, which has been approved by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has adopted the latest guidelines on global alternative dispute resolution to, not only resolve disputes on time but on reduced cost to all parties.

He decried situations were parties in a dispute sought alternative resolution means abroad at high cost.

He said the ACCI DRC has the capacity to dispense all contract disputes using alternative dispute resolution mechanism without the parties seeking such solutions abroad.