Edo judiciary partners German agency to improve business disputes resolution, investment climate

Edo State Judiciary has partnered with the Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria Programme-SEDIN to address key barriers in the business environment and improve the system for commercial dispute resolution in the State.

SEDIN is part of the Sustainable Economic Development Cluster (SEDEC) implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) to promote economic development and employment.

Speaking at the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) training on mediation and conciliation in Benin City, Edo State chief judge, Justice Esther Edigin, said the partnership would accelerate dispute settlement in a timely and cost-effective manner as well as provide enabling environment for businesses in Edo State.

Edigin said the participants of the training were selected from the lower bench of the Judiciary, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ministry of Justice, the public and private sector organisations to boost prompt delivery in resolving business-related disputes.

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Earlier, Akinropo Omoware, head of Policy Unit of SEDIN-GIZ, said the collaboration would contribute efficiently to ADR system in Edo State.

Omoware added that it will further give access to the affordable system of commercial dispute resolutions for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The representative of SEDIN-GIZ said the programme is aimed at training and certifying 100 persons in Edo State in mediation and conciliation.

He further explained that the beneficiaries of the programme include the poor and vulnerable who cannot afford the cash to enforce their contractual rights, especially through the formal justice system that is technical and expensive.

In his remarks, Segun Ogunyannwo, registrar of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC), said the partnership became necessary to improve ease of doing business in the state.

One of the participants, Lucky Amachree, executive secretary, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Edo/Delta State branch, said the skills acquired from the training will be of immense importance to resolving commercial dispute within member companies rather than taking issues to the normal court.