In Nigeria, enforcing a judgment is a complex process that is bedevilled with challenges that can hinder a judgment creditor from enjoying the fruits of his or her judgment. At the core of public confidence in the judicial process is the need for assurance that successful litigants who have ventilated their grievances and secured victory in a court judgment would reap the fruit of their victory through a seamless judgment enforcement process. It is an assurance that drives local and foreign investment in line with global best practices. The current framework for judgment enforcement in Nigeria does not sufficiently meet the need and therefore requires significant legislative and institutional reform.
In this article, we will be taking a closer look at the topical issues of enforcement or execution of Nigerian Judgments and the attendant bottlenecks while undertaking a brief review of some recent decisions of the Supreme Court impacting on an aspect of this challenges in judgment enforcement in Nigeria. Methods of Judgment Enforcement in Nigeria There are various methods of Enforcing court judgments in Nigeria. These include Garnishee proceedings, Writ of Fieri Facias, Warrant for Possession, Writ of Attachment of Immovable Property and Sequestration or an Order of Committal on a Judgment Debtor's Summons.2 Garnishee proceedings are the most widely used and effective method for enforcing monetary judgments in Nigeria which allows judgment creditors to attach credits or monies in the possession or custody of a third party (garnishee).3 However, where such funds are in the possession of a public officer, the Attorney General's consent is required.4 The Nigerian Court of Appeal has unambiguously held that the money of a public officer in the hands of a commercial bank does not fall into the categories of monies in the hand of a public officer and the consent of the Attorney General is not required to attach such.5 We shall return to this later on in this article.
Writ of Fieri Facias (FIFA) enables the seizure of moveable properties, excluding essentials like bedding, tools of trade and wearing apparels of the judgement debtor6 while Warrant for Possession is occasionally used in tenancy matters for the recovery of possession or upon declaration of title.
Writ of Attachment of Immovable Property is only levied against an immovable property if no movable property of the judgment debtor can, with reasonable diligence, be found, or if the movable property is insufficient to satisfy the judgment.7 Sequestration is a judicial writ commanding the sheriff or other officer of the court to seize the goods of a person named in a writ, especially where a warrant of arrest, contempt, imprisonment has been issued against such person
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