The Chairman of the International Law Association (ILA), Arbitration Committee, Mr. Tolulope Aderemi has charged the arbitration community and indeed, the Nigerian Courts, to prioritize the resolution of oil & gas disputes in Nigeria and determine them speedily.
Aderemi made this call during a working visit of the ILA, Arbitration Committee to the Alternative Dispute Resolution Center (ADRC) of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) at the weekend.
He thanked the leadership of the ADRC for warmly welcoming his team to the headquarters of the NOGEC.
Whilst commending the leadership of the NUPRC for taking the initiative to revive the ADRC, Aderemi urged the management of the Center to ensure that its Procedural Rules are not only standardized and competitive, its implementation must also fast-track the resolution of oil & gas disputes in Nigeria.
This, he noted can be done through very strong, robust and wide Procedural Rules. Aderemi also urged that those who will be implementing this Rule must also as knowledgeable as the Tribunal. He therefore re-emphasized the need for indepth bespoke training for the operators of the Center.
He further noted “ it is not enough to have rules or regulations, implementation of such must go with trust and confidence of the system by the Users.
“For example, the passage of the Nigerian Petroleum Industry Act (PIA); a legislation expected to drive increased investment into the country by the reduction of corporate petroleum operation taxes (Hydrocarbon tax to 30%, when compared with the Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) at 50%). It is at this same time that our major oil & gas partners have increased the incidence of their divestment,” Aderemi remarked.
In his welcome address, the Coordinator of the ADRC , Mr. Austin Okwah, who was flanked by the Head, National Oil & Gas Excellence Center (NOGEC), Mr. Abel Nsa, welcomed the Arbitration Committee to the headquarters of the NOGEC and sought for the collaboration of all stakeholders in the energy arbitration community.
In particular, Austin Okwah expressed the Commission’s determination to prioritize the resolution of oil & gas disputes at the Center with the sole purpose of speedily resolving such disputes.
In achieving this, he noted that the Center was finalizing its Procedural Rules and other operational instruments to enable operate as a Center comparable to any other in the world
He assured the Users of the Center that with the selection of the best oil & gas arbitrators on its 3rd Party Neutral list, the Center guarantees a Tribunal with deep understanding of crude disputes, petroleum economic issues as well as fiscal concerns. This is what is lacking in the outer arbitration space.
In his own remarks, the Head, NOGEC, Mr Abel Nsa thanked the leadership of the ILA, Arbitration Committee for visitng and inspecting the ADR facility and the technical support to be provided to the Center.
He pledged the Committee of the NOGEC’s full cooperation to ensure that the ADRC succeeds in its endeavours and the most reliable platform for the resolution of Nigerian oil & gas disputes. On their part, he noted that speedy resolution of oil & gas disputes is top priority for the Center.
The ADRC expects to offer Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation services for the Industry. The Centre leverages industry technical experts to provide a fair and balanced resolution of industry-related disputes from an informed position as well as access to robust data from the National Data Repository (N DR). The ADRC is structured to adequately resolve disputes in a manner consistent with regulatory and economic interests of the Industry. This will address sub-optimal development of oil & gas assets associated with lingering disputes and the attendant consequences of value erosion in terms of national resource growth, global competitiveness, investment attractiveness, government take and investors’ profitability.
Part of the delegation of the ILA were the Secretary, Mrs Foluke Akinmoladun, Programs’Director, Deinma Dibi, National Coordinator (South/West) and Asst. Programs’ Director, Mrs Delayo Oriekun and the Assistant Secretary, Mr Bolaji Oriola
