NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Abubakar Anafi, Larry Nkwor, Justice Uka-Ofor and Ayomide Abiodun, G. Elias
2.2 Third-Party Funding: Lawsuits No action in court (except arbitration) is available for third-party funding, subject to what is written in 2.1 Third-Party Litigation Funding . 2.3 Third-Party Funding for Plaintiff and Defendant Third-party funding is not available for either the plaintiff or the defendant, except in arbitration. 2.4 Minimum and Maximum Amounts of Third-Party Funding No minimum and maximum amounts are appli- cable because third-party funding is prohibited, except in arbitration. 2.5 Types of Costs Considered Under Third-Party Funding No costs are to be considered because third- party funding is prohibited, except in arbitration. 2.6 Contingency Fees Contingency fees are permitted under Nigerian law provided that: • the contract is reasonable in all circumstanc- es, including the risk and uncertainty of the compensation; • the contract is not vitiated by fraud, mistake or undue influence, or contrary to public policy; and • it is reasonably obvious that there is a valid cause of action. Lawyers are prohibited from entering contin- gency fee arrangements when representing defendants in criminal cases (see the Rules of Professional Conduct for Legal Practitioners, 2023, Rule 50.)
Applications for official copies of the filings may be granted upon the payment of nominal fees. The courts may, however, refuse to approve an application to obtain a court filing that contains personal information, proprietary trade secrets, commercial or financial information, or that is in the public interest. If the need arises for court proceedings to be kept confidential, an application may be made to the relevant court to invoke its statutory pow- ers to exclude members of the public from the proceedings. 1.4 Legal Representation in Court Only persons called to the Nigerian Bar and enrolled in the Supreme Court of Nigeria may appear in any Nigerian court. This is subject to the payment of an annual practising fee. Foreign lawyers may be allowed to appear in court only if they obtain a warrant from the Chief Justice of Nigeria upon the payment of a fee. Such warrant can only be used for the proceeding in respect of which it is issued. 2. Litigation Funding 2.1 Third-Party Litigation Funding The applicable common law of champerty and maintenance considers third-party funding as tortious conduct. Hence, the prevailing view is that Nigerian law prohibits litigation funding by a third party to the extent that English common law does so today. (The exact limits of English common law today on the point are not entirely clear). However, third-party funding is permissi- ble in arbitration. See the Arbitration and Media- tion Act, 2023 (AMA), Section 61.
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