The High Court of Lagos State has dismissed the application filed by Mr. Ikechukwu Iroha seeking to stay the enforcement of the judgment entered against him in favour of Mr. Kenneth C. Ahia, SAN.
The dismissal effectively clears the way for the enforcement of the judgment delivered on 29 October 2025 by Hon. Justice O. A. Ipaye, which found Iroha liable for defamation against the Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
In the substantive judgment, the Court found that Iroha’s publications of 10 July 2023 on Facebook titled “Payment of Legal Fees Through Contract Award” and 15 July 2023 titled “Why Are They Panicking?”, which was subsequently published by Sahara Reporters, were false, defamatory and injurious to the reputation and professional standing of Ahia, SAN.
The Court consequently entered judgment against Iroha and ordered him to pay ₦20 million in damages to Ahia, SAN, together with ₦500,000 as costs.
The Court also ordered Iroha to publish a full retraction of the defamatory statements and an unreserved written apology to Ahia, SAN, on Sahara Reporters and in at least one national newspaper selected from The Guardian, Vanguard, Punch, ThisDay, Daily Trust or The Sun.
The apology was to be published within seven days of the judgment.
The Court further ordered Iroha to remove the defamatory publications from every online platform on which they had been published and restrained him from making or publishing similar defamatory statements against Ahia, SAN, in the future.
With the dismissal of his application for stay, Iroha is under an obligation to obey and comply with the judgment of the Court.
Failure to comply with the orders directing him to retract the defamatory publications, tender the ordered public apology and remove the offending materials exposes him to contempt proceedings and an application for his committal to prison for disobedience of the orders of the Court.
The judgment creditor is also entitled to commence appropriate enforcement proceedings for recovery of the ₦20 million damages and ₦500,000 costs awarded by the Court.
In addition, continued failure by Iroha to satisfy the judgment debt may expose him to bankruptcy proceedings at the instance of the judgment creditor for his inability to pay the debt.
Should Iroha elect to appeal against the judgment, the judgment creditor may also exercise his own right of cross-appeal and invite the appellate court to increase the ₦20 million awarded as damages, on the ground that a substantially higher sum ought to have been awarded as adequate compensation for the injury caused by the defamatory publications.
The dismissal of the stay application therefore leaves the judgment of Justice Ipaye standing and enforceable against Iroha. Unless and until a competent appellate court orders otherwise, Iroha is bound to obey the judgment.
