ACCI Tasks Govt, Contractors on ADR
The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has tasked the federal government and contractors to avail themselves of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism especially in resolving disputes arising from execution of government contracts instead of litigation.
President of ACCI and former Attorney General of the federation, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode (SAN) stated this Tuesday in Abuja in his address at the opening ceremony of the Government Contract Dispute Resolution Workshop organized by the ACCI and stakeholders in both government and the organized private sector.
The ACCI boss who lamented that it was “already a challenge to resolve these disputes as parties’ resort to litigation as the preferred resolution method” however noted that the development has caused several delays in project delivery and make projects expensive in the long run.“Also, these disputes have been seen to have caused poor performance in government projects and often leads to prolonged delays in implementation, interruptions and sometimes even suspensions of work”, he said.
He noted that mediation, conciliation, arbitration and all forms of ADR have been accepted as the appropriate means of resolution of Government Contract Dispute hence this workshop.
Kayode posited that costs and risk management are important factors that must be taken into account when undertaking projects, but expressed worry that the main causes of disputes between contractors and the Government were non-payment of certified sums; financial claims; wrongful determination of contract, ambiguous contract documents; inadequate provisions in the contract conditions and misinterpretation of contract documents amongst others.
The ACCI boss further stated that the Workshop will enhance participants approach to create possibilities for Government and Contractor relationships, pre-qualification amenability, avoid disputes and resolve them when they arise amiably by avoiding unnecessary litigation and adversarial settlement, create a more productive and progressive business environment, explore a diverse range of ADR modalities which prevent, avoid or moderate disputes while retaining relationships of both parties.
Speaking at the occasion, the Acting Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) Mr Ibrahim Magu applauded the initiative of the ACCI in establishing the Dispute Resolution Centre(DRC) saying that “in every relationship, disputes are inevitable, but when they happen, it is not for the contract to suffer because when the projects are halted, the people suffer and the development of the nation is retarded”.Mr Magu who was represented by Mrs Enakeno Uju at the occasion said the issue of ADR in government contracts is of great importance, stressing that for the government contract practitioner, the subject of simplifying and expediting the dispute resolution process is highly essential.
“There are cases where contract sums are inflated. There is also the issue of kickbacks which is a situation where contract is awarded, and a percentage of the sum is requested from the contractors. Sometimes, the amount of money that is received after paying the requested percentage by the contractor is not enough to carry out the project assigned. There have also been cases of projects not implemented at all. We can no longer continue along this line! These are clear examples of corruption in the contract system which must be flushed out of our country. There must be a clear departure from this deep-seated practice”, Magu said.
The Chairman of the ACCI Dispute Resolution Centre, Chief Emeka Obegolu, said that ADR provided the best means of resolving disputes arising from government contracts.According to him, the centre has commenced operations in earnest and had resolved many disputes between parties among its members and other private sector operators, adding that the centre was open to serve both members and non-members of the business community.“We invite commercial disputants to come to ACCI Dispute Resolution Centre. We want disputants to be able to resolve their disputes amicably in order to enjoy their pre-dispute relationships”, he said.
