Garnishee Proceedings

Garnishee proceeding is a process of enforcing a money judgment by the seizure or attachment of debts due or accruing to the judgment debtor that form part of his property available in execution. As such it is a specie of execution upon debts. For which the ordinary methods of execution are unavailable. Garnishee orders are in two stages, namely, an order nisi followed by an order absolute. In a simple term, it is an enforcement of monetary judgement, whereby money belonging to a judgement debtor, in possession of a third party known as the ‘Garnishee’ (usually a bank) is seized by a judgement creditor, the garnishor, in satisfaction of a judgment debt.
The laws regulating garnishee proceedings are the rules of courts, case laws, the sheriff and civil process Act, Cap 56 laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004. (SCPA) and the judgment (Enforcement) rules (JER) made pursuant to section 94 of the SCPA. The procedure required for commencing garnishee proceedings contained in section 85(1) and (2) SCPA which states as follows:
‘83(1): The court may upon the exparte application of any person who is entitled to the benefit of a judgment for the recovery or payment of money, either before or after any oral examination of the debtor liable under such judgment and upon affidavit by the applicant or his legal practitioner that judgment has been recovered and that it is still unsatisfied and to what amount and that any other person is indebted to such debtor and is within the state, order that debts owing from such third person, hereinafter called the garnishee, to such debtor shall be attached to satisfy the judgement or order, the debt due from him to such debtor or so much thereof as may be sufficient to satisfy the judgment or order together with costs aforesaid.
At least fourteen days before the day of hearing, a copy of the order nisi shall be served upon the garnishee and on the judgment debtor”.
In N.A.O.C. V. Ogini (2011) 2 NWLR Pt 1230 131, the Court of Appeal Per Ogunwumiju at Page 152-153 had this to say: “If the judgment creditor knows that the judgment debtor has an amount of money with any bank or institution he will as Garnishor file for an exparte application to be supported by an affidavit in Form 23 or the Judgment Enforcement Rules (JER) for an order that the Garnishee shall show cause why he should not pay the amount due to the judgment debtor to him. These proceedings are strictly exparte between the Garnishee. Where the court grants the order nisi on the garnishee, the Registrar through the sheriff of the court must serve on the garnishee, the judgment creditor and the judgment debtor the order nisi on Form 26 of JER. The Registrar must then fix a date not less than 14 days after the service of the order nisi on the judgment creditor, the judgment debtor and the garnishee for hearing. After that hearing on notice, the court may discharge the order nisi or make it an order absolute.
Note that the consent of the Attorney General of the state must be sought for a party to successful garnish public fund in public account. See Orijekwu V. Kogi State Ministry of Commerce and Industry (2003) 10 NWLR (Pt 827) 40.

Nkechi Bright Ewere