Arbitration is probably the best known alternative to court litigation as disputants are now discovering that Arbitration is a more efficient, flexible and cost efficient alternative to litigation. It is a procedure in which a dispute is submitted by agreement of the parties, to one or more arbitrators who make pronouncements called an award which all parties agree to be bound by. By this, in choosing arbitration as a means of dispute resolution, the parties opt for a private process instead of going to court.

Arbitration is favourable to parties because of its neutrality, confidentiality, speed, flexibility and the awards are easily enforced. The Supreme Court in the case of Ras Pal Gazi Construction Co. Ltd v F.C.D.A has held on the effect of arbitral award thus: “It is very clear and without any iota of doubt, that an arbitral award made by an arbitrator to whom a voluntary submission was made by the parties to the arbitration, is binding between the parties.”

International arbitration has evolved to allow parties from diverse legal and cultural backgrounds resolve their disputes in a final and binding manner, typically without the formalities of the procedural rules of their respective legal systems. For instance, in the event of disputes arising from cross border commercial transactions between parties of different legal backgrounds, parties subject themselves to an international Arbitration process which provides a level playing ground for all parties and an International award is given as judgement, same which is binding on parties and required to be enforced in their country of origin. 

An arbitral award granted outside Nigeria is enforceable and binding on parties to it. A seamless ecosystem for enforcement of foreign judgement or arbitral awards boost investors’ confidence. According to World Bank ease of doing business index 2019, Nigeria ranked 96th on enforcement of contract index and it takes about 454 days to enforce a contract through the court. The length and anxiety associated with litigation procedure have a habit of discouraging business relationship. Therefore, this article discusses the procedure of the enforcement of international arbitral awards in Nigeria.