Lagos State rejects N’Assembly’s central gaming bill

 

The Lagos State Government has faulted the National Assembly over the proposed Central Gaming Bill, warning that its passage would violate the Nigerian Constitution and a subsisting Supreme Court judgment.

Addressing a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, Lagos Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), declared the move by the National Assembly as “a voyage of unconstitutionality.”

According to a report by the National Assembly Library Trust Fund, the Central Gaming Bill, 2025  was presented for concurrence during Senate plenary on October 7, 2025.

The bill seeks to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for online and remote gaming, aiming to replace the previously repealed National Lottery Act of 2005.

The proposed legislation seeks to regulate the operation and business of online gaming across all states in Nigeria, including a specific provision for activities in the Federal Capital Territory.

The PUNCH reported in November 2024 that the Supreme Court nullified the National Lottery Act 2005, enacted by the National Assembly.

A seven-member panel of the court, in a unanimous judgment, held that the National Lottery Act 2005 should no longer be enforced in all states, except the FCT, in respect of which the National Assembly was empowered to make laws.

Speaking on Wednesday, Pedro said, “As the Chief Law Officer of Lagos State, it is both my constitutional duty and responsibility to draw the nation’s attention to the voyage of unconstitutionality embarked upon by the National Assembly to enact Act to regulate the operation and business of all forms of online and remote gaming across the geographical boundaries of the federating units and beyond the borders of Nigeria.”

He said the legislature cannot directly overturn a specific Supreme Court judgment, “though it is conceded it can indirectly nullify its effect, but only by changing the underlying law on which the judgment was based to remove the foundation of the judgment.”

“In this case, the underlying law is the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and having not amended the Constitution of Nigeria to include in the exclusive legislative list item such as lottery, gambling and gaming, the Central Gaming Bill, as currently constituted, directly conflicts and contradicts the provisions of the extant Constitution of Nigeria and a subsisting and binding judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria on the subject.”