NIGERIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Adeyinka Aderemi, Chinasa Unaegbunam, Omono Blessing Omaghomi and Ibukun Enigbokan, Streamsowers & Köhn
Finally, a party can find out what assets the judgment debtor owns through the evidence of the judgment debtor during trial (evidence on oath). 2.5 Challenging Enforcement of Domestic Judgments An unsuccessful party may challenge the enforcement of domestic judgments by: • applying to the court where the judgment was delivered (trial court) for it to be set aside if the judgment was not given on the merits – ie, where the judgment did not determine the substantive rights of the parties but was based on matters of practice and procedure; or • appealing the judgment and obtaining an order for the execution of the judgment to be halted pend - ing the determination of an appeal against the judgment, in which case the judgment cannot be enforced pending the appeal. 2.6 Unenforceable Domestic Judgments An application to set aside a judgment filed at the trial court may be made on the following grounds: • when a judgment is obtained by fraud or deceit; • when the judgment is a nullity; • when it is obvious the court was misled into giving judgment under a mistaken belief that the parties consented to it; or • where the originating processes in the suit giv - ing rise to the judgment were not served on the defendant. In granting such application, the court would gener - ally consider: • whether it can be shown that the judgment was obtained by fraud of one of the parties; • the reasons for the applicant’s failure to appear at the hearing of the suit; • whether the party in whose favour the judgment was given would be prejudiced or embarrassed if an order of re-hearing of the suit were to be made, thus rendering such a course inequitable; • whether there has been undue delay in making the application;
• whether the applicant’s case is manifestly unsup - portable; and • whether the applicant’s conduct throughout the proceedings had been such as to make their appli - cation worthy of sympathetic consideration. Appealing the Judgment and Obtaining a Stay of Execution On appeal, a judgment debtor may apply for a stay of execution of the judgment being appealed – ie, an order suspending the execution/enforcement of the judgment during the period of the appeal. In granting such an application, the court would generally con - sider special or exceptional factors, including: • the chances of the applicant on appeal; • the nature of the subject matter in dispute; • whether the applicant will not be able to reap the benefit of the judgment on appeal if the appeal succeeds; • where the judgment is in respect of money and costs, whether there is a reasonable probability of recovering these back from the respondent where the judgment has been enforced and the appeal succeeds; and • where the effect will be to deprive the appellant of the means of prosecuting their appeal. 2.7 Register of Domestic Judgments There is no central register of all judgments delivered in Nigerian courts. However, the registrar or any other proper officer of a court is required to keep a book called the “Nigeria Register of Judgment”. Where a judgment delivered in one state is to be enforced in another state in Nigeria, a judgment creditor must apply to the registrar of the court that delivered the judgment for a certificate of judgment to be issued. The judgment creditor is then required to take said certificate to the registrar of any court of similar jurisdiction in the state where the judgment is to be enforced, where the registrar of that court would record the following particulars in the Nigeria Register of Judgment: • the name of the court; • the index number of the registration; • the date of registration;
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