In October 2017, the National Identity Management Commission – which was established under the National Identity Management Commission Act 2007 (NIMC Act)– issued the Mandatory Use of the National Identification Number Regulations 2017 (NIM Regulations). The NIMC Act contains a list of transactions that require the use of a national identity number (NIN) and empowers the Commission to make additions to the list. By Section 1(1) (u) of the NIM Regulations, “the filing and registration of criminal and civil actions in courts or other arbitration processes” is now included in the list of transactions that require an NIN.
However, how the NIN requirement will be enforced in private transactions such as arbitration proceedings as well as the effects of non-compliance on such transactions remain unclear.
The Head of the Dispute Resolution Practice Group of ǼLEX, Mrs Funke Adekoya, SAN, recently had her article titled “Will requirement for use of NIN in arbitration proceedings affect validity of arbitration?” published by the International Law Office (ILO) Arbitration and ADR newsletter. The article analyses the implication of the Federal Government’s requirement for the use of a national identification number (NIN) in arbitration proceedings.
Click on the link to access the article.