PRINCIPLE STATEMENT

Once an award has been made and not challenged, it constitutes a final judgment on all matters referred to the arbitrator; the losing party cannot be heard to argue any point as they would not be allowed to do so with an unappealed court judgment.

RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)

Per Katsina-Alu, JSC, in Ras Palgazi Construction Company Limited v. FCDA (2001) NLC-4596(SC) at pp. 12–13; Paras D–A.
"Once an award has been made, and not challenged in court, it should be entered as a judgment and given effect accordingly. The losing party cannot be heard to say he wants to argue some point or other. Just as he would not be allowed to do so in the case of a judgment not appealed from, he should not and would not do so in the case of an award that he has not challenged. If an issue is raised for decision and has been decided, that is final. The parties cannot be allowed thereafter to re-open it. The reason is that just as the parties would not be allowed to do so in the case of a judgment not appealed from, the point so decided is res judicata."
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EXPLANATION / SCOPE

An unchallenged arbitral award is final and binding on all matters referred. The losing party cannot re-open issues or argue points after the award. The award has the same finality as an unappealed court judgment. The principle of res judicata applies. The parties chose arbitration as their dispute resolution mechanism and must abide by the result. The award cannot be relitigated on the merits. The only recourse is to challenge the award through statutory setting aside proceedings within the time limit. The principle promotes finality and efficiency in arbitration. The court will not entertain any argument that seeks to re-argue the merits of a final award.

CASES APPLYING THIS PRINCIPLE

None recorded.