Obtaining judgment from any court in Nigeria is not a final indication that the victorious party will automatically reap the fruits of his or her victory. It behooves a judgment creditor, the responsibility to initiate the legal machinery for the enforcement of judgments so as to claim the fruits of his victory. The legal duality and complexities involved in enforcement of judgments in Nigeria isn’t only gargantuan, enforcement of judgments in Nigeria is very fluid and nebulous. If judgments are difficult to enforce in Nigeria; litigants’ confidence in the justice sector will be impeded; commercial activities will be adversely affected and national development will be tremendously hampered. This paper examines the labyrinth of legal and institutional bottlenecks in enforcement of judgments in Nigeria. Doctrinal methodical strategy of legal research was adopted to analyze statutes, case law, journals and statutory modes of judgments enforcement in Nigeria. Existing researches on this complex but essential topical issue focuses on just one of the modes of judgment enforcements in Nigeria while this work attempts a holistic examination of the various modes of judgments’ enforcement in Nigeria. At the end of the study, it was found out that existing legislations on judgments enforcement in Nigeria are obsolete; possess statutory bottlenecks and they are inadequate to assuage the suffering of judgment creditors; among others. It is highly recommended that case law interventions; statutory modifications and institutional developments are needed to fast-track judgment enforcement in Nigeria so as to meet the yearnings and expectations of judgment creditors; to enhance the confidence
Citation: Olabanjo O. Ayenakin, Itunu Kolade– Faseyi, Temidayo Akindejoye (2021) Enforcement of Judgments in Nigeria: Issues, Law and Challenges, Global Journal of Politics and Law Research, Vol.9, No.7, pp.1-15
Keywords: Enforcement, contempt, garnishee, judgment creditors, judgment debtors, writ of FIFA
