A study of disputes and their resolution in public private partnership (PPP) projects in Nigeria

The Construction industry is the largest contributor to the world economy given the GDP ratio. But infrastructure construction is a complex process, requires coordinated efforts of a temporarily assembled multiple-member organisation of many discrete groups, each having different goals and needs, and each expecting to maximise its own benefits. Nigeria shifted the burden of new infrastructure development and investment to the private sector as part of the Public Partnership (PPP) policy, as an effort to fill the gap in infrastructure developments and to achieve its vision 20:2020 The study, therefore, investigated disputes, dispute resolution methods and the procedures parties to PPP infrastructure construction disputes employed to address such disputes. The study adopted a systematic review process as a methodological approach to review the existing literature on construction disputes and their resolution methods. The study also carried out a literature review of Nigeria’s major construction projects and related disputes and their resolution methods with a view to developing strategies for the efficient and effective dispute resolution methods. Adopting a non-probability with purposive sampling and snowballing strategy, the research draws on in-depth semi-structured interviews with PPP construction professionals, government officials, private concessionaires, and ADR practitioners. The qualitative design enables an interpretive exploration of lived experiences, practitioner narratives, and the contextual factors influencing dispute trajectories. Findings reveal that disputes in Nigerian PPPs primarily arise from unclear initial specifications and frequent design modifications, ambiguous risk allocation, inconsistent government commitments, financial uncertainties resulting in time and payment delays, political interference. The study also revealed from participants’ emphasises that despite the presence of formal tiered dispute resolution clauses, early ADR mechanisms such as negotiation and mediation are often underutilised due to mistrust, power asymmetries, and unclear triggers for when a dispute is deemed to have formally crystallised. These gaps contribute to premature escalation to arbitration or litigation, increasing costs and delaying project delivery. The study has contributed to theory by advancing that dispute behaviour in PPP projects in Nigeria is shaped by the interaction of contractual incompleteness and political interference complexity, factors not fully accounted for in existing PPP or dispute-systems theories. To deal with the challenges and achieve efficient and effective dispute resolutions processes in PPP projects in Nigeria, three sets of remedial strategies were proposed. But a set aligns with underlying philosophy of ‘prevention is better than cure’ and was integrated into a single framework called Remedial Strategy Pathways The research findings have policy, legal and geographical implications. The finding called for policy changes to focus more on ensuring widely used standard form of contract contains provision for on-site prevention and avoidance strategies. On legal implication, the finding imply a need for reforms in areas of improved education, training and enforcement of contract requirements. The findings have implications for other developing countries. The dispute resolution methods of ADR should encompass only non-binding processes where parties retain ultimate control over the resolution process and outcome of their disputes.

Citation

Ahatty, S.U. (2026) A study of disputes and their resolution in public private partnership (PPP) projects in Nigeria. University of Wolverhampton. https://wlv.openrepository.com/handle/2436/626237

Publisher

University of Wolverhampton

URI

https://wlv.openrepository.com/handle/2436/626237

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