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Lawyer Udofia recommends international treaty as panacea for cooperate insolvency

By Silver Nwokoro
07 November 2017   |   3:11 am
A senior associate at Fidelis Oditah Law Firm, Dr. Kubi Udofia has advocated the use of international treaty and conventions in tackling challenges affecting cooperate insolvency.

Prof. Fidelis Oditah

A senior associate at Fidelis Oditah Law Firm, Dr. Kubi Udofia has advocated the use of international treaty and conventions in tackling challenges affecting cooperate insolvency.
  
According to him, deploying the two mechanisms would tackle the challenges to a very large extent.His words: “This can solve some of these challenges to a large extent. In my view, the limitation will still be that these treaties may not be politically active. For these treaties to deal with legal issues, they can only deal with procedural issues. In terms of facilitating the cooperation and coordination between courts with different jurisdictions on how to deal with issues where we have concurrent proceedings.”
  
Udofia who made this statement at the International Law Association 4th annual conference in Lagos, said some countries based on experience with other countries maybe a bit reluctant to enforce international laws over their own domestic law.

  
The event with the theme: “The impact of international law on domestic law and practice” had other speakers such as Mr. Uche Val Obi (SAN), Ms. Lemea Abina, Mr. Seni Adio (SAN) and Mrs. Igonikon Adekunle.
  
The speakers talked on various topics such as capital market, taxation, international investment disputes and arbitration amongst others.Udofia also said developing a role for private international law, would also help in dealing with the challenges affecting cooperate insolvency.
   
He said: “I tell people that if Nigeria had allowed foreign investment into the country and also encourage Nigerian companies to go out there and trade with foreign companies, it would be easy for us to develop our private international law.”
    
He therefore urged lawyers to open up and draw some of these approaches in dealing with cross border insolvency issues.Also, Ms. Igonikon Adekunle who talked about financial investment disputes said there are certain bilateral investment treaties.
  
According to her, the treaties offer protection for investors who are coming into the country to invest in one area or the other.Some of these protections, she said, are premium includable treatment, not taking assets without due compensation as well as the ability to be able to resolve any dispute arising under that treaty by ways of arbitration.

Her words: “The positive impact is the fact that going into these treaties, foreigners have been given guarantee to come into the country to invest in whichever area, and also allow them transfer their capital.”
  
 

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