Lagos heads to S’Court, seeks contempt proceedings against N’Assembly over gaming bill

The Lagos state government has approached the Supreme Court to seek leave to commence contempt proceedings against the National Assembly over the Central Gaming Bill. In a motion filed on behalf of the attorney-general of Lagosby Bode Olanipekun, senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the state government isseeking the Supreme Court’s order to initiate judgement enforcement proceedingsthrough the issuance of form 48. Form 48 is a notice of the consequences of disobeying acourt order and serves as the first step before the commencement of contemptproceedings. BACKGROUNDOver the past few months, the Lagos state government and National Assembly have been at loggerheads over the Central Gaming Bill, 2025,seeking to “regulate the operation and business of online gaming across allstates in Nigeria, including a specific provision for activities in the federalcapital territory (FCT)”. The bill is currently before the Senate and House ofRepresentatives. The proposed legislation seeks to establish a regulatoryframework for online and remote gaming in Nigeria. It is intended to replacethe previously repealed National Lottery Act of 2005. However, the Lagos state government had argued that theproposed legislation violates the judgement of the Supreme Court delivered inNovember 2024, which nullified the enforcement of provisions of the NationalLottery Act 2005 in the 36 states of the federation. The state government also argued that issues relating togaming and lottery fall under the purview of the state governments, not thefederal government. THE SUPREME COURT’S JUDGMENTIn November 2024, the apex court nullified the enforcementof provisions of the National Lottery Act 2005 in the 36 states of thefederation. In a unanimous judgement, the seven-member panel of thecourt held that the national assembly lacks the powers to legislate on issuespertaining to lottery and gaming. The court held that issues of lottery and gaming cannot becategorised under the trade and commerce in the exclusive list stipulated inthe 1999 Constitution. The apex court ruled that only state assemblies have thepower to legislate on lottery and gaming businesses. The National Lottery Act 2005 was signed into law by formerPresident Olusegun Obasanjo in March 2005. In 2008, the Lagos state government filed a suit against thefederal government and national assembly on whether the control and regulationof gaming and lottery businesses in each state is under the exclusive list. In October 2020, the Ekiti state government joined Lagos asco-plaintiff in the suit. Subsequently, some states joined as co-plaintiffs, whilesome states, mostly from the north, joined as co-defendants. ‘PROPOSED BILL RELATES TO LOTTERY, GAMING’In an affidavit filed in support of the motion, the Lagosgovernment argued that the proposed bill before the national assembly dealsentirely with lottery and gaming, which the supreme court had ruled fallsoutside the legislature’s jurisdiction. The state government said both the repealed National LotteryAct of 2005 and the proposed legislation define ‘gaming’ and ‘lottery’ withsimilar terms. The state government averred that since the judgement of theSupreme Court in November 2024, the exclusive list of the constitution has notbeen amended to include lottery or gaming.

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