CUSTOMARY LAW ARBITRATION: THE ORIGIN - VALIDITY AND ENFORCEABILITY OF CUSTOMARY ARBITRAL AWARD BASED ON OATH TAKING IN NIGERIA

The earliest and oldest method of settlement of disputes in Nigeria is by customary law arbitration mechanism. It is far older than the court system and could be said to be as old as the existence of human race on earth. It is based on the custom and tradition of the Nigerian people and is administered by the family head, kindred head, village heads, elders, chiefs, age grade groups, women leagues (“umu ada” in igbo land), priests of shrines, the traditional chiefs or ‘igwe’ in council, etc. Customary law arbitration has passed through a lot of challenges with effect that some jurists and scholars denied its existence. For example, Allot in his book Essays in African Law, denied the existence of customary law arbitration in Nigeria.[1] Uwaifo JCA in Okporuwu v. Okpokam[2] stated that there is nothing like customary law arbitration in Nigeria. In Nigeria, there are chains and series of inconsistent and conflicting judicial pronouncements and decisions of courts on customary law arbitration. There exists also conflicting decisions on the validity of customary law arbitration and whether customary law arbitration by oath taking is valid and enforceable in Nigeria. It is to answer these questions and more that I have decided to undertake this research work. [1] Allot, Essays in African Law, Butterworth Co. Ltd,. London, 1960, 126. [2] (1988)4NWLR(Pt.90)544