This article examines a recent decision of the Nigerian Court of Appeal that essentially pronounces that, in respect of oil spill litigation in Nigeria, statutes of limitation are inapplicable to the federal law that creates the basis for oil spill compensation claims. This decision has dire consequences for the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The article finds this decision not only bad for public policy but actually based on very faulty reasoning and contradictory of an earlier decision of the Court of Appeal that was not considered. The article concludes that, despite this decision being the most recent, lower courts in Nigeria are not bound to follow it.

中文翻译：

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时效法在尼日利亚溢油赔偿索赔中的应用

本文考察了尼日利亚上诉法院最近的一项裁决，该裁决基本上宣布，就尼日利亚的溢油诉讼而言，诉讼时效不适用于为溢油赔偿索赔奠定基础的联邦法律。这一决定对尼日利亚的石油和天然气工业产生了可怕的后果。文章认为该决定不仅对公共政策不利，而且实际上基于非常错误的推理，并且与上诉法院先前未考虑的决定相矛盾。文章的结论是，尽管这一决定是最新的，但尼日利亚的下级法院不一定会遵循它。