Ravelli v. Digitsteel Integrated Services Ltd.: Does the Arbitration and Conciliation Act Preclude the Arbitration of Employment Disputes in Nigeria?

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The long title of Nigeria’s Arbitration Act describes the Act as ‘a unified framework for the fair and efficient settlement of commercial disputes by arbitration’. Section 57(1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (ACA) does not include the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NIC or ‘the court’) in its definition of ‘court’. (The NIC is a specialized High Court with exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine labour and employment disputes.) Relying on the provisions of section 57(1) of the ACA, the NIC in Ravelli v. Digitsteel Integrated Services Ltd. recently held that it is not enabled to apply the ACA, and further that the ACA does not apply to employment disputes. Accordingly, the NIC refused to assist the applicant to give effect to an arbitration agreement contained in an employment contract. This case comment reviews the decision in the Ravelli case and contends that, based upon a different rationale, the NIC might have taken jurisdiction to consider, and perhaps grant, the application. Arbitration, employment dispute, trade dispute, Arbitration and Conciliation Act, Trade Disputes Act, National Industrial Court of Nigeria, jurisdiction, employment contract, arbitration agreement, Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria