Nigeria Needs One Arbitration Association – Ufot ,SAN

Mrs. Dorothy Ufot, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), is a leading figure in the field of arbitration in Nigeria. In this stimulating chat with STEPHEN UBIMAGO, she contends that the dispute arising over the fact that there is currently more than one Chartered Arbitration Institute in the country could be readily resolved if there can be one Arbitration Association to which all arbitrators in the country would belong regardless of which Chartered Institute they subscribe to. Excerpts:

As one of the few Nigerian representatives in the ICC Court of Arbitration, to what extent would you say that Nigerian parties make use of the court?

First and foremost, I need to correct the impression in some quarters that I am the only Nigerian in the ICC international court of arbitration. No, that is not correct. I am currently in the court with Professor Gabriel Olawoyin (SAN). He was even in the court before me. Nigeria always appoints two members to the court. We meet very often in Paris during court sessions. Other eminent Nigerians have been members of the ICC court before me. Judge Bola Ajibola was a member of the court for very many years. His colleagues still ask after him. I told him this sometime when I met him at the Regional Centre for Arbitration in Lagos. The former Minister of State for Petroleum, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia (SAN) was also a member of the court. I was appointed at the expiration of Odein’s tenure to join Professor Olawoyin in the court. I think the issue with my appointment is that I am probably the first Nigerian female member of the ICC court of arbitration. Beyond this, other Nigerians have gone before me.

Nigeria currently has an Arbitration Act. What amount of input are the country’s arbitrators making in order to have an improved version of the law?

Yes, the Nigerian Arbitration Act has undergone some review with a view to having a new Arbitration Act being passed by the National Assembly. But that has not been done yet, it is hoped that this will be done soon. In terms of the input of Nigerian arbitrators to the new Arbitration law that we are expecting, the Federal Ministry of Justice constituted a committee to review the law. Although I wasn’t a member of that committee, very qualified arbitration practitioners were selected to do the job. The committee was headed by late Hon. Justice Olakunle orojo. He used to be a highly respect and seasoned arbitrator.

You were a member of the Council of the Legal Practice Division (LPD) of the International Bar Association (IBA); and executive member of the arbitration committee of the IBA. What are the functions of those two organs of the IBA?

As for being the first African to be appointed as an executive member of the arbitration committee of the IBA that was what I was told when I was appointed in 2006. The feeling then was that an African was needed at the helm of affairs of the arbitration committee. Having been quite visible as an ordinary member of the committee, I was appointed to an executive position in 2006. But it must be understood that the Arbitration Committee is only one of the committees that make up the Legal Practice Division of the IBA. So here we are talking about the executive of the arbitration committee. There are other committees in the LPD such as Aviation, Maritime, Construction, Capital Market, etc. while the executive members of the arbitration committee oversee the activities of the Arbitration Committee, the Legal Practice Division Council oversees the activities of all committees under it and formulates the policies of the LPD.

There are just over 467 arbitration practitioners from 63 jurisdictions of the world who are considered world’s leading experts in the field of International Commercial Arbitration. You happen to be on that list. How significant is that?

Well, many more Nigerians have made the list ever since. Fact is that I have been very active internationally of late. For instance, I have been speaking on arbitration at every IBA annual conference since 2005 to date. As I said earlier I was one of the speakers in New York last year during the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the New York Convention organised by the United Nations and the IBA. I was one of the speakers at the 10th World Arbitration Day in Madrid in 2007; I spoke on Arbitration, Corruption and Money Laundering, a very controversial topic. I figure that the international arbitration community wanted to know my views on this crucial topic. I understand latter from the participants that my paper and comments were very well received. I told the international arbitration community what efforts the Nigerian government was making to fight corruption and money laundering. I spoke about the EFCC and the ICPC. I was a speaker in Prague, Singapore and also Buenos Aires. I also attend the meetings of the ICC commission on arbitration in Paris, the court sessions of the ICC court also in Paris. The significance of this recognition to me first is that Nigeria is featured.

What is your take on the different arbitration bodies and the chartered institutes that have emerged in Nigeria, all claiming to be branches of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK?

The issue of the two Chartered Institutes of Arbitrators in Nigeria is a very controversial and sensitive one. I do not want to raise more dust on this. Secondly, they both do not lay claim to being branches of the UK institute. There is only one Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) Nigerian branch. The other Chartered Institute, I do not think have ever laid any claim to being a branch of the UK institute. Beyond this, I will not say that this dispute between these two bodies is damaging to us as practitioners and as a country. The international community is aware of this dispute. They ask me what is happening in Nigeria when I go abroad. The dispute is unfortunate and embarrassing. As dispute resolvers, we should be able to sort ourselves out. As far as I am concerned, what we need now is not this dispute. What we really need now is to come together and form an arbitration body to be called the Nigerian Arbitration Association. An association that all of us can be members of regardless of which Chartered Institute we belong to. Most countries have such associations. You have the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the Swiss Arbitration Association to mention just two. I am a member of the Swiss Arbitration Association. I pay 250 Swiss Francs annually as membership fee. It is a very highly regarded Arbitration Association and most international arbitrators around the world are members. They hold an international conference in January or February of every year. We all gather there. They are earning revenue. The American Arbitration Association has an international division; it is the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR). It is based in Dublin.

While litigation is adversarial, arbitration is basically conciliatory and an out of court proceeding. It is even said to be a much quicker way of resolving disputes. But some lawyers have expressed reservation that arbitration impacts negatively on advocacy skills. Where do you stand on this as one who has her feet in both worlds?

Yes, I am seriously involved in both litigation and arbitration. I am a trained Barrister. I cut my teeth at the Chambers of Mr. Harry Afolabi Lardner SAN. I joined the firm immediately after my call to bar in 1989. I remained there until Dorothy Ufot & Co was established in 1994. I love litigation with deep passion. All arbitrators have a primary profession. Arbitration is really a secondary profession. That is why you have lawyers, architects, engineers, accountants and quantity surveyors who are also arbitrators. I have been properly trained in both fields. While Mr. Lardner trained me in litigation, Mr. Tony Canham, a former President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK, who is an Engineer, trained me in Arbitration. He was my pupil master. He put me through some very hard training in Arbitration as did Mr. Lardner in litigation. I do a lot of construction arbitration by virtue of the works I did with Tony. All the works were in construction arbitration. There is a lot of construction work in oil and gas arbitration. Although it is very hectic having my feet in both worlds, I am at home with the challenge.

What would you say is the future of arbitration in Nigeria?

There is no doubt that the future of arbitration in Nigeria is very bright. It is promising. There is hope, particularly with Government directive that all Government contracts should contain an arbitration clause of the Lagos Regional Centre. Although a dispute is not the first thing that contracting parties have in mind when entering into a contract, in most cases disputes are inevitable as the contract progresses. There are capable arbitrators in the country to handle these cases, but we must emphasize experience, education and training to participate effectively.