Chartered Institute of Arbitration (CIArb), Nigeria Branch, has appealed to Micro, Small, and Medium-scale Enterprises (MSME) to take advantage of the accelerated dispute resolution service offered by the Nigerian Branch of the institute.
This, the body said would help address the undue delay experienced by MSMEs in the resolution of cases in the regular courts.
The chairman of CIArb, Mr. Olatunde Busari (SAN) made the plea at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Institute and the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA) joint expedited ADR-MSME Scheme.
Busari said the MSME arbitration scheme, which was launched in 2017 was developed by the CIArb Nigeria Branch to promote and facilitate access to cost-effective ADR and arbitration for resolution of commercial dispute.
He said the scheme is intended to provide simple, cost-effective, and timely resolution of disputes within stipulated timelines (within 15-60 days) and is applicable to disputes with the monetary value from N250, 000 to N10million.
This, according to him is to support the ease of doing business initiatives of the Federal Government and for the development of effective dispute resolution mechanisms in the commercial sector.
The President of Lagos Court of Arbitration, Dr. Wale Olawoyin (SAN) expressed joy at the signing of the MOU. He noted that the ceremony signified the beginning of the collaboration between LCA/CIArb, which would lead to more training, experience, and exposure for members CIArb and also boost the efficiency and capacity of the LCA in fulfilling its core mandate of providing access to ADR services.
The signing of the MOU according to him was also significant because of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing regulations, which has brought a rise in the use of virtual platforms. This, he said will reduce costs and ensure time efficiency in dispute resolution.
“I urge various professional bodies, accountants, architects, estate surveyors, entrepreneurs and members of the business community to make use of this scheme and benefit from the services of the LCA/CIArb Panel of (impartial and independent) neutral and case managers with ethical standards and training in Expedited dispute resolution methods,” he said.