How effective are the frameworks regulating the duties of directors in insolvency in Nigeria and England and Wales? Prospects and challenges

Companies can become insolvent and subsequently go into liquidation for many reasons. Breach of directors’ duties is one of these reasons and can have a devastating impact on companies in England and Wales and Nigeria. The role directors play in any company cannot be overemphasised. They can be blamed, depending on the situation, for the parlous state of the company. Under some corporate rescue mechanisms, they remain in office and control of the affairs of the company. In such circumstances, they are required to resuscitate the life of the company (or at least consider the interests of creditors). Some aspect of rescuing companies from total collapse- Administration and Company Voluntary Arrangements are relatively new with no evidence of how they operate or might operate to suit the Nigerian commercial space. There is a scarcity of literature on this aspect of law. Through the application of doctrinal methodology, this thesis seeks to find a balance between what operates in England and Wales, from where Nigeria adopted her law. This thesis proposes some changes, in some cases, major changes and amendments to both England and Wales and Nigeria’s corporate insolvency regimes. The exposition portrays the law as it was available to the author on 31st December 2025. At the same time, it formulates what the law should be as distinct from what the law is. It considers how an effective insolvency regime should deal with directors’ duties from a normative viewpoint. With the recent introduction of corporate rescue mechanisms in Nigeria, it focuses on the role of directors and their potential liabilities in that context. It is an important and developing area in Nigeria where lessons may potentially be learned from a comparative analysis. The analysis does not solely look at how the system in Nigeria might be improved but also considers how the England and Wales regime might be further improved. With directors and their activities as its fulcrum, it is believed that the recommendations of this thesis will go some way in shaping the future of corporate insolvency law in both jurisdictions.

Citation

Ariyo, A.A. (2026) How effective are the frameworks regulating the duties of directors in insolvency in Nigeria and England and Wales? Prospects and challenges. University of Wolverhampton. https://wlv.openrepository.com/handle/2436/626424

Publisher

University of Wolverhampton

URI

https://wlv.openrepository.com/handle/2436/626424

Type

Thesis or dissertation

Language

en

Description

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Wolverhampton for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Collections

Theses and Dissertations