2019 SLP Conference: Legal Experts Explore Decisions of Superior Courts of Record on Garnishee Proceedings
The opening session of the second full day of the 2019 annual general conference of the NBA’s Section on Legal Practice (SLP) took on the often vexed question of garnishee proceedings, the decisions of superior courts of record in respect thereof, the controversies arising therefrom, and ways of resolving the bottlenecks arising from them.
Chaired by the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Benin Judicial Division, Hon. Justice H. M. Ogunwumiju, JCA, the session comprised of a rather erudite panel of discussants, each of who brought a refreshingly different perspective on the matter at hand, if only to underscore the multifaceted nature of the issue.
The lead speaker, Mathias Daudu (who represented the designated speaker, Dr. Babatunde Ajibade, SAN) gave an overview of the history and evolution of garnishee proceedings in Nigeria, and their application (or lack thereof) in these parts. He also gave a unique take on ways of resolving disputes arising from violations of court judgments in this regard.
The second speaker, Olagoke Fakunle, SAN, a widely-regarded counsel with extensive experience in litigation, urged those whose task is to recover garnishee funds from debtors to first do a diligent examination of the nature, character and profile of who these debtors, in view of the ambiguities of provisions in the relevant statute books – which can be, and have been, subject to all manner of interpretation over the years.
On his part, Alhaji K. K. Eleja, SAN, who spoke next, dwelt on the knotty issue of whether or not the central bank of Nigeria, CBN, is a public office, or public officer, as contained in the law relating to garnishee proceedings. This, he added, becomes necessary in view of the current policy domiciling all funds belonging to the federal government all its agencies in the treasury single account, TSA, in the vaults of the CBN. How does one then enforce orders of courts on garnishee if the funds to be accessed are in the TSA, with the proper status of the CBN itself open to dispute?
Newswire correspondents in Akure, the venue of the conference report that, the only other woman on the panel, Chief (Mrs.) Victoria Awomolo, SAN, called for the repeal of garnishee laws she considered anachronistic and of colonial origin, and therefore unsuitable to our current legal environment. These laws, she said, were in contravention of extant provisions in the 1979 constitution (as amended), as well as a violation of court judgments on the matter. She also decried the practice whereby the attorney-general of a given jurisdiction (state or federal) constitutes himself or herself into a party in a garnishee case, saying that there must be a separate distinction between the debtor and creditor, and called for sanctions for those who fail to show cause for failing to meet garnishee obligations. She ended with a list of thought-provoking questions to do with the nexus between the practice of law and the promotion of moral and ethical values.
A lively question-and-answer session followed the panel discussion, in which some of the participants expressed their concern on a number of relevant issues relating to the issues at hand.
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