Investors may continue to avoid long-term capital commitments to Nigeria unless courts enforce contracts consistently and resolve commercial disputes quickly, legal and business leaders have warned. They said the country's ability to attract and retain investment depended not only on profit potential but also on whether investors could protect their assets, obtain fair decisions and recover their money when necessary. The concerns were raised at the third annual Multi-Door Courthouses and Alternative Dispute Resolution Stakeholders Summit 2026, held in Lagos on October 19 and 20, with the theme 'Investor Confidence and ADR: Strengthening Nigeria's Investment Climate'. Charles Adeyemi Candide-Johnson, managing partner of Candide-Johnson Law, said that capital was attracted by safety rather than merely the promise of profit. He stated: 'Actually, capital goes where it is safe.'
Senior Advocate of Nigeria Bode Olanipekun identified weak contract enforcement, questionable ex parte orders, inconsistent government policies and unpredictable dispute resolution as obstacles to investment. The Chief Executive Officer of the American Business Council Nigeria, Mrs Margaret Olele, warned that regulatory inconsistencies and breaches of contractual commitments could force companies to reconsider their operations or leave the country. Olanipekun described two concerns for investors: 'return on investment' and 'return off investment', explaining that businesses wanted their investments to grow while ensuring their money was not lost. He said: 'As an investor, I don't want my investment to diminish; I want my investment to grow. That's return on investment. Now, there's return off investment. As an investor, I don't want to lose my investment. I don't want my money to get lost.'
Olanipekun cited a commercial dispute to illustrate the consequences of prolonged litigation and misuse of ex parte orders. Company A approached a court on October 27, 2015, seeking orders against Company B, but the application was refused. Company A subsequently filed the same case before another judge and obtained the orders on December 4, 2015. Company B challenged the orders, which the Court of Appeal discharged on March 30, 2016. The Supreme Court affirmed their impropriety on July 13, 2018. The High Court awarded Company B more than N71bn in damages on July 18, 2023, over losses caused by the orders, though an appeal against the damages award was pending. Olanipekun also cited a 2023 dispute involving Seplat Energy, where three shareholders holding less than 0.002 per cent of the company obtained ex parte orders restraining the chief executive officer, executive management and board members from acting in their official capacities. The Court of Appeal suspended the orders on May 15, 2023, four days after they were granted.
Candide-Johnson said the judiciary needed to provide a predictable commercial justice system in which contractual agreements were enforced according to their terms, subject to applicable laws and legitimate legal exceptions. He stated: 'If they can say with certainty that if my disputes come to these courts, the contracts will be enforced as we intend it, without influences outside of precedent, they will be confident to invest.' He urged that courts understand the commercial expectations of contracting parties and avoid undermining agreements without sufficient legal justification. Investors did not expect to win every dispute but wanted confidence that the process would be fair and free from undue influence, he said.
Candide-Johnson urged Lagos State to lead efforts to establish a credible model of commercial justice, citing its economic importance. He said Lagos State's economy was larger than the economies of Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Kenya combined. He pointed to the English legal system as an example of how consistency and predictability could strengthen confidence in commercial transactions. Mediation and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms should complement the courts, allowing less complex disputes to be resolved without adding to judicial backlogs, he added. Abimbola Olashore, President and Chairman of the Council of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce, said weak contract enforcement and policy inconsistency were discouraging investors from committing long-term capital to Nigeria. He stated: 'In truth, the capital will go to where it is welcomed and where it is treated well.'
For savers, borrowers, business owners and investors in Nigeria, weak contract enforcement and unpredictable courts increase the risk that money committed to long-term ventures will not be recovered or generate promised returns.