The Binding Effect of a Customary Arbitration Award: Exorcizing the Ghost of Agu v Ikewibe

Abstract

AbstractAgu v Ikewibe has been widely interpreted as holding that a customary arbitration award is binding only if none of the parties rejected the award after it was made; it has been widely criticized for this reason. However, the Nigerian Supreme Court has reached decisions, subsequent to though not as notorious as Agu v Ikewibe, to the effect that post-award consent is not necessary to found a binding customary arbitration award. This article contends that Agu v Ikewibe did not indeed decide what has been ascribed to it over the years, or that, even if it did, that decision is not supported by the previous judicial authorities upon which it claimed to have relied. Reference is also made to the current predominant indications from the Nigerian Supreme Court that post-award consent is not necessary to establish a binding customary arbitration award.