NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adeyinka Aderemi, Omono Blessing Omaghomi and Ibukun Enigbokan, Streamsowers & Köhn
Writ of delivery A writ of delivery is issued for the enforcement of a judgment for the delivery of goods. An application for a writ of delivery is made by filing a praecipe form. Judgment summons This is issued by the court upon application by a judg- ment creditor where a judgment debtor defaults on payment of a judgment sum or any instalment. The judgment debtor is summoned to appear before the court for examination on oath as to their means. An investigation into the judgment debtor’s means is con- ducted and the court may make an interim order for the protection of any property applicable or available in discharge of the judgment debt. Upon the conclu- sion of investigations, the court may make one or more of the following orders: • an order for the commitment of the judgment debtor to prison; • an order for the attachment and sale of the judg- ment debtor’s property; • an order for the payment of money by instalments or otherwise by the judgment debtor; or • an order for the discharge of the judgment debtor from prison.
The slow pace of the class actions filed in various courts, which are now pending at the appellate courts, coupled with the lack of legislation on the subject has made Nigerian courts unattractive for class action matters. Where possible, parties largely forum shop for favourable jurisdictions for their class action mat- ters. A good example is the case of Abdullahi v Pfizer Inc 562 F.3d 163, which began in Kano, Abuja and New York and went up to the US Supreme Court before a Besides possible amendments to the rules of various courts, which provide for the procedure for instituting a class action, no major legislative reform has been initiated in relation to the matters mentioned in the foregoing sections. However, there has been a clam- our for the development of the class action regime to cover fundamental human rights and consumer rights violations in Nigeria. settlement was achieved. 4.2 Legislative Reform
5. Key Trends 5.1 Impact of Key Trends
There are no recent trends or changes in Nigeria with regard to either the regulatory or substantive aspects of class actions. There are also no recent court deci- sions on the issue.
4. Legislative Reform 4.1 Policy Development
The Nigerian law with regard to class action has remained stagnant. Although the rules of various Nigerian courts provide for the procedure to institute class actions, there is no law or legal precedent that addresses the same holistically. Of the few recent class action cases in Nigeria, none have been fully litigated and concluded with the final judgment deliv- ered at the Supreme Court.
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