Statoil v. NNPC: A Question of Absence of Jurisdiction or Exercise of Discretion Not to Exercise Jurisdiction

Abstract

Section 34 of Nigeria’s Arbitration Act provides that ‘[a] court shall not intervene in any matter governed by this Act, except where so provided in this Act’. Relying on this provision, the Court of Appeal recently set aside the interim order of a High Court restraining arbitration proceedings, reasoning that the High Court lacked the jurisdiction to make the order. It is argued in this comment that the Court of Appeal may have reached the right decision in that case, but for the wrong reason. Nigerian courts of superior record derive their powers from the Constitution; the Arbitration Act cannot operate to diminish the powers granted to these courts by the Constitution.