How to Enforce an Arbitral Award in Nigeria: Step-by-Step Legal Guide (2026)

The Legal Framework: AMA 2023 Section 57 and Schedule 2

The enforcement regime for arbitral awards in Nigeria is governed by the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023 (AMA 2023), which came into force on 26 May 2023 and replaced the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1988 in its entirety.

Section 57 of the AMA 2023 is the core enforcement provision for domestic awards. It provides that an arbitral award shall, by leave of court, be enforceable in the same manner as a judgment or order of the court. Once leave to enforce is granted, the award is treated as a court judgment — and all enforcement mechanisms available to judgment creditors under Nigerian law become available to the award creditor.

Schedule 2 of the AMA 2023 implements Nigeria’s obligations under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. Nigeria ratified the New York Convention in March 1970 — one of the earliest African signatories — meaning Nigerian courts are obliged to recognise and enforce awards from over 170 countries that have also ratified the Convention.

Step-by-Step: Enforcing a Domestic Arbitral Award

1. Receive and review the award.
   Confirm the award is in writing, signed by the arbitrators, and contains the reasons for the decision. Under Section 33 of the AMA 2023, the award must state the reasons upon which it is based unless the parties have agreed otherwise or the award is made by consent. An unsigned or unreasoned award (where reasons are required) may create complications at the enforcement stage — address any formal defects with the tribunal before the award becomes final.
2. Wait out the three-month challenge window — or do not wait.
   The respondent has three months from receipt of the award to apply to court to have it set aside under Section 55. You do not have to wait for this window to expire before filing for enforcement — the enforcement application can be filed concurrently with the challenge window running. However, if you file for enforcement and the respondent simultaneously files to set aside, the court may stay enforcement pending the set-aside application. Consider the respondent’s likely behaviour before deciding on timing.
3. Prepare the enforcement application.
   File an originating summons or motion at the appropriate court (see Section 4 below) seeking leave to enforce the award. The application must be supported by an affidavit exhibiting: the original award or a certified true copy; the original arbitration agreement or a certified true copy; a certified translation if either document is not in English. The affidavit should also set out the amount outstanding, the respondent’s identity and address, and any relevant facts about the respondent’s assets or behaviour since the award.
4. Serve the application on the respondent.
   The respondent must be served with the enforcement application and given the opportunity to respond. They may file an affidavit in opposition relying on one of the grounds for refusal under Section 58. The court will set a hearing date for both parties to be heard on the enforcement application.
5. Attend the enforcement hearing.
   The enforcement hearing is not a re-hearing of the arbitration. The court’s role is limited to: confirming the award and agreement are genuine; confirming no ground for refusal under Section 58 has been established; and granting or refusing leave to enforce. Where no valid objection is raised, enforcement hearings are typically disposed of quickly. Courts sympathetic to arbitration — and Nigerian courts have become significantly more so since the AMA 2023 — routinely grant enforcement applications within one to three hearings.
6. Obtain the court order granting leave to enforce.
   Once the court grants leave, it issues an order in terms of the award, effectively converting the arbitral award into a court judgment. From this point, all enforcement mechanisms available under the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 become available.
7. Execute against the respondent’s assets.
   With the court order in hand, enforcement options include: a writ of execution against the respondent’s movable property (goods and chattels); a garnishee order attaching debts owed to the respondent by third parties (most commonly bank accounts); charging orders over the respondent’s real property; and committal for contempt where the respondent has assets but deliberately refuses to pay. For a respondent who is unable to pay rather than unwilling, see the discussion in Section 6 below on insolvency options.

Enforcing a Foreign Arbitral Award Under the New York Convention

Foreign arbitral awards from New York Convention states are enforced in Nigeria under Schedule 2 of the AMA 2023. The procedure is similar to domestic enforcement but with additional documentary requirements.

Documents required for foreign award enforcement

• The duly authenticated original award or a duly certified copy
• The original arbitration agreement or a duly certified copy
• A certified translation of both documents if they are in a language other than English

The court’s role in foreign award enforcement

The Nigerian court considering a foreign award enforcement application must recognise and enforce the award unless the respondent establishes one of the grounds for refusal listed in Schedule 2 — which mirror the grounds in Article V of the New York Convention. These grounds are exhaustive: the court has no discretion to refuse enforcement on grounds not listed in Schedule 2, regardless of its views on the merits of the original dispute.

Which Court Has Jurisdiction to Enforce Your Award?

Grounds for Resisting Enforcement: What the Losing Party Can Argue

The grounds on which a respondent can successfully resist enforcement of an arbitral award in Nigeria are deliberately narrow. Under Section 58 of the AMA 2023, the court may refuse enforcement only if the party against whom enforcement is sought proves one of the following:

• A party to the arbitration agreement was under some incapacity at the time of the agreement
• The arbitration agreement is not valid under the law to which the parties subjected it
• The party against whom the award is invoked was not given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings, or was otherwise unable to present their case
• The award deals with a dispute not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration, or contains decisions on matters beyond the scope of the submission
• The composition of the arbitral tribunal or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the agreement of the parties
• The award has not yet become binding on the parties or has been set aside or suspended by a court of the country in which the award was made

Additionally, the court may refuse enforcement on its own motion if it finds that: the subject matter of the dispute is not capable of settlement by arbitration under Nigerian law; or enforcement would be contrary to the public policy of Nigeria.

What this list does not include is significant: there is no ground to resist enforcement based on a disagreement with the arbitrator’s findings of fact, a belief that the arbitrator applied the law incorrectly, or a view that the award is unfair on the merits. Nigerian courts have consistently held that the enforcement process is not an appeal of the arbitration — the merits of the dispute were finally determined by the arbitral tribunal.

After Enforcement: Collecting What You Are Owed

Obtaining a court order granting leave to enforce converts your arbitral award into a judgment. The practical challenge then becomes collecting the money from a respondent who may be unwilling or unable to pay.

Where the respondent is unwilling to pay

A garnishee order is typically the most effective first step — it attaches the respondent’s bank accounts directly, requiring the respondent’s bank to pay the judgment sum from funds held in the respondent’s accounts. A garnishee order nisi is applied for ex parte (without notice to the respondent) and, once made absolute, requires the bank to make payment to the claimant. This is faster and more effective than execution against physical assets.

Where the respondent is insolvent or unable to pay

Where the respondent is a company that cannot meet the award, a statutory demand followed by a winding-up petition under Part 15 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act 2020 (CAMA 2020) may be the appropriate enforcement route. This converts your arbitration claimant position into that of a creditor in an insolvency process. The priority rules in insolvency determine how much of the award you are likely to recover. Where the respondent is an individual, bankruptcy proceedings under the Bankruptcy Act may be pursued.

Realistic Timelines and What Affects Them

Common Mistakes That Delay or Defeat Enforcement

• Filing in the wrong court. Jurisdiction determines which court can hear your enforcement application. A matter that falls within the Federal High Court’s jurisdiction filed in a State High Court gives the respondent a procedural objection that requires refiling — losing weeks or months. Confirm jurisdiction before filing a single document.
• Failing to exhibit a certified copy of the arbitration agreement. Section 57 requires both the award and the arbitration agreement to be filed. An enforcement application that exhibits only the award and not the agreement — or exhibits a photocopy rather than a certified copy — is technically defective and can be challenged on that basis. Prepare your documents carefully before filing.
• Waiting too long to begin enforcement while the respondent dissipates assets. A respondent who knows an award has been made against them has every incentive to move assets out of reach before enforcement is completed. Begin the enforcement application promptly after receiving the award. Where asset dissipation is suspected, apply for a Mareva injunction to freeze the respondent’s assets while the enforcement application is pending.
• Ignoring insolvency risk. A winning party who obtains an enforcement order but cannot locate the respondent’s assets may have won a battle and lost the war. Before investing significant legal fees in enforcement, conduct a financial investigation into the respondent’s known assets — bank accounts, property, shareholdings, receivables — to assess whether enforcement is likely to yield actual recovery.
• Not understanding the difference between enforcement and set-aside. Some award winners, upon being told that the respondent has filed a set-aside application, assume they must wait for that application to be resolved before pursuing enforcement. This is not correct. An enforcement application can proceed in parallel with a set-aside application. The court has discretion to stay enforcement pending set-aside — but it is not automatic, and the enforcement application should be filed regardless.

For a full understanding of the arbitration process that generates the award you are seeking to enforce — including how to structure your arbitration clause from the outset to minimise enforcement problems — see our Commercial Arbitration in Nigeria: The Ultimate Business Guide.