Originally from Enforcement of Money Judgments

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I. PRESENT ATTITUDE TOWARD ENFORCEMENT OF FOREIGN MONEY JUDGMENTS

A. Describe the receptiveness of your government (including courts) toward enforcement of foreign money judgments.

The attitude of the Nigerian government and judiciary towards enforcement of foreign money judgments may be described as receptive in the sense that if the judgment meets the requirements of reciprocity  it will be enforced in Nigeria's Courts. The registration of foreign judgments and their consequent enforcement is governed by:

(1) The Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgment Act (Cap. 175)

(2) The Foreign Judgment (Reciprocal Enforcement Act) [the 1960 Act]

The 1960 Act empowers the Minister of Justice to direct by order that the benefits conferred by Part I of the Act shall extend to judgments given in the superior courts of a foreign country,  if he is satisfied that substantial reciprocity of treatment will be assured in respect to the enforcement in that foreign country of judgments given in the High Courts in Nigeria. Thus, reciprocity of treatment is the essential prerequisite for enforcing foreign judgments in Nigeria.

It should be noted, however, that the 1960 Act has not repealed the Reciprocal Enforcement of Judgment Act.  The former specifically governs the registration and enforcement of judgments obtained in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries while the latter provides generally for the registration and enforcement of judgments obtained in countries which accord reciprocal treatment to judgments given in Nigeria. The current position with respect to judgments delivered in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries that are sought to be enforced in Nigeria is governed by Cap. 175 of 1958.  Applying the rule of statutory interpretation that a general law does not abrogate a specific law unless the intention of the legislature is manifested from the general law, one concludes that Cap. 175 of 1958, being a special statute, cannot be held to have been repealed by the subsequent general statute (Act No. 31 of 1960).  The authorities establishing the effect of a foreign judgment in Nigerian law are not numerous. They appear, however, to clearly justify the above stated position.

Nigerian courts have gone as far as to refuse to register and enforce a foreign judgment where they are persuaded that the proceedings in the final court were unfair,  or in the interest of public policy considerations.