NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adekunle Obebe and Tade Leo-Adegun, Bloomfield LP
9.3 Costs A prevailing employee or employer can be awarded attorney’s fees or other costs. According to Order 55 of the NIC Civil Procedure Rules, the following rules apply to the award of costs in employment disputes. • The costs of the entire suit and each specific proceeding are at the discretion of the court as regards the party by which they are to be paid. • Even if a party is successful, the court can order it to pay the costs of any particular proceeding. • The court may order costs to be paid out of any fund or property related to the suit. • In fixing the amount of costs, the principle to be observed is that the successful party is to be indemnified for the expenses that party unneces - sarily incurred in the proceedings. The judge may summarily fix the amount of cost at the time of delivery of judgment. However, the court may stay the proceeding pending the payment of the costs of any party.
to submit to arbitration or to have the dispute decided by court. This position was confirmed by the NIC in Mr Ibi- tola Oludemi v Alcon Nigeria Limited (NICN/ PHC/120/2022), where the defendant objected to the court’s jurisdiction on the grounds of an arbitration clause in the employment contract not being fulfilled. The court dismissed the objection, holding that the existence of such a clause does not bar a party from initiating proceedings before the NIC. The court stated clearly that “parties have the option to either submit to arbitration or to have their dispute decided by Court”, and concluded that it had the jurisdiction to hear and determine the matter. In summary, while parties may include arbitration clauses in employment contracts, such provisions are not strictly enforceable, and either party may approach the NIC directly without first submitting the dispute to arbitration. Arbitration Agreements Arbitration agreements are enforceable in Nigeria where the court has jurisdiction. For the court to have jurisdiction over an application for recognition and enforcement of an award, one of the following condi - tions must be met: • the award debtor must be in Nigeria or be a Nige - rian; or • the assets sought for enforcement must be within Nigeria.
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