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Abstract

Exemption clauses have become a common feature in contracts of all forms, including contracts for the sale of goods and services, electronic commerce and consumer contracts. The effect is more severe in business-to-consumer contracts as consumers are not in a position to negotiate the terms of contracts and usually transact on the standard forms of suppliers. To ensure that businesses do not abuse the weaker bargaining position of consumers, some countries have adopted some measures to curtail or prohibit the use of exemption clauses in consumer contracts. A prominent statutory enactment in Nigeria in this regard is the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018, which prohibits terms that adversely affect the interests of consumers. The courts have also adopted some rules of interpretation that restrict the application of exemption clauses, the latest being the rule of law recently established by the Supreme Court. This paper examines the statutory and judicial developments in Nigeria in relation to exemption clauses and makes some comparisons with the positions in the United Kingdom and India. With particular reference to Nigeria, the paper concludes that the trend of statutory and judicial developments points to the fact that exemption clauses are sliding towards extinction, thus paving the way for improved consumer protection in the country.

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