legal

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LEGAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL EVALUATION OF THE NIGERIAN SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND

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Solomon E. Ekokoi *

ABSTRACT

The central aim of this paper is to examine the constitutionality of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) which was established in August 2012, pursuant to the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (Establishment etc) Act 2011 (the NSIA Act). The paper reviews and discusses how questions on the constitutionality of a sovereign wealth fund have been dealt with in other jurisdictions with similar legal and governmental structures. It reviews practices in the United States and Canada, where the establishment of SWFs conform to their federal constitutional designs; and in Australia and Russia, where the law and practice of SWF are similar to the extant regime in Nigeria. This paper argues that questions on the constitutional basis of the SWF alone should not affect the establishment of a national SWF in Nigeria and therefore recommends a constitutional amendment to clear the grey areas. It discusses the importance of the law and development approach in resolving the identifiable setbacks in the Nigerian NSIA Act bearing in mind the potentials of the SWF in the socio-economic development of the Nigeria.

Keywords: Sovereign wealth fund, constitution, stabilization

* LLM (Uyo) (Barrister & solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria; lecturer in law, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Uyo, Nigeria. E-mail: ekokoisolomon@ yahoo.com).

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DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND THE WTO DISPUTE RESOLUTION SYSTEM: A LEGAL ASSESSMENT AND REVIEW

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Linimose Nzeriuno Anyiwe * and Eghosa Osa Ekhator**

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to review and analyse the WTO procedures and rules designed to resolve developing countries disputes. The Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) of the World Trade Organization is generally considered as providing innovative set of rules through which countries could address and resolve trade disputes amongst themselves. The DSU also establishes an Advisory Centre, which seeks to assist developing countries to resolve trade disputes. Despite these innovations, opinions are divided on the practical effectiveness of the DSU and the Advisory Centre, particularly with respect to resolving disputes involving developing countries. In this paper, we shall examine the practical effectiveness of DSU and the roles of the Advisory Centre in the dispute resolution processes involving developing countries. Drawing examples from previous disputes, some practical challenges and constraints with the current procedures faced by developing countries are identified and discussed; they are: lack of expertise, inability to enforce WTO rulings, reluctance to institute trade disputes and economic pressure applied by developed countries on developing countries in trade disputes amongst others. Addressing these challenges are critical to the overall success of the DSU. This paper calls for a review of the DSU to incorporate the reforms enunciated by various stakeholders to the WTO.

* Linimose Nzeriuno Anyiwe LL.B (Benin), LL.M (University of Central Lancashire)

** Eghosa Osa Ekhator LL.B (Benin), LL.M (Hull), PhD Candidate at the Law School, University of Hull, eghosaekhator@gmail.com. Corresponding author