Assessment of Adjudication as a Method of Dispute Resolution in the Construction Industry in Nigeria

Abstract

The construction business in Nigeria shows about 9.4% contribution to the GDP of that country. However, in Nigeria, long-lasting conflicts still discourage the realization of projects and economic growth. There are serious gaps in the traditional litigation mechanisms, which comprise excessive delays, prohibitive costs, and commercial conflict, which could take 5-15 years to close. Despite the wide acceptance of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) methods, there is a wide disparity between the perceived benefits of this method and how they are being applied in the Nigerian legal and institutional environment. In this paper, the study determines the practicability of adjudication as a dispute resolution tool in the Nigerian construction sector through an analytical paradigm that consists of four important dimensions: timeliness, enforceability, accessibility, and legitimacy. Based on comparative research on the successful experience of statutory adjudication in the United Kingdom and Singapore, the paper considers the applicability to the legal, institutional, and economic context of Nigeria in terms of the benefits of adjudication, such as 28-day decision time, technical competency, and an interim binding decision. The systematic literature review and the comparative legal analysis are the methods through which the present study determines the systemic requirements to ensure the successful implementation of adjudication, and investigates the legislative gaps, institutional, and stakeholder constraints that restrict its application at the moment. The paper reveals that although adjudication has strong theoretical merits compared to the existing dispute resolution methods, the lack of a statutory facility, poor institutional infrastructure, and lack of capacity among the stakeholders make adjudication practically ineffective in Nigeria. These findings can be used to put in perspective the ways that emerging economies can adopt international best practices in dispute resolution, and also highlight the policy-coordinated interventions that are needed to realize the transformative potential of adjudication in the development of markets in developing economies.