An Evaluation of the Doctrine of Privity of Contract in Nigeria

Abstract

A contract is a private relationship between the parties who make it, and no other person can acquire rights or incur liabilities under it. Therefore, a person seeking to sue upon a contract must satisfy the court that, he is a party to the contract and that he has given consideration for the promise he seeks to enforce or that the contract is under seal. The objective of this paper is to examine the doctrine of privity of contract. The researcher adopted the doctrinal method of research. In this paper, it was found that, any person who intends to enforce a contract must show that he gave consideration and that he is a party to that contract. The paper also found that, as social or economic necessity invites some new extension of the principle of insurance, the rule may disappoint reasonable expectation of the parties. The paper recommends that, statutes passed to redress grievance should not be isolated in order not to render their operation uncertain. This is because some Acts passed to redress grievance, have been isolated exceptions to the general rule of the common law, thus rendering its operation uncertain. The paper concludes that, the effect of the doctrine of privity of contract may well be salutary and in some circumstances may prove inconvenient or even unjust.