A judgment creditor who has finally secured an order of court is rarely finished. The most reliable next move by a resisting debtor is a motion for stay of execution — filed either at trial level pending appeal, or at the Court of Appeal itself. Handled passively, a stay motion can freeze recovery for a year or more while the underlying assets are dissipated.
1. Treat the stay motion as a second case
A stay application is not a formality — it is fully contested litigation with its own standard: the applicant must show substantial grounds of appeal and that the appeal would be rendered nugatory without a stay. Creditors who show up to argue this as an afterthought routinely lose momentum they cannot recover.
2. Condition, don’t just oppose
Courts frequently grant a stay but attach conditions — payment into court, a bank guarantee, or an undertaking to preserve specific assets. Arguing for the right conditions, rather than simply resisting the stay outright, often produces a better commercial outcome than an all-or-nothing fight.
An uncontested stay motion is the cheapest asset-protection strategy a debtor will ever buy. Contest it like the money depends on it — because it does.
3. Move in parallel, not in sequence
While the stay motion is pending, garnishee and other post-judgment applications can often continue in respect of assets not covered by the stay order. Reading the stay order narrowly — and acting on what it does not cover — keeps pressure on the debtor rather than ceding the entire timeline to the appellate calendar.
Keeping the file live
Enforcement stalls when a stay motion is treated as the end of active work rather than the next stage of it. The firms that collect are the ones that keep pressing on every front the stay order leaves open, while contesting the motion itself on its merits.
This note is general commentary on Nigerian legal practice and does not constitute legal advice or create a lawyer–client relationship. Outcomes depend on the specific facts and the applicable law at the time. For advice on a particular matter, speak with the firm.
Keep reading
