State Regulators Urge NASS To Halt Central Gaming Bill

A caller law quality is brewing betwixt the Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria and the National Assembly implicit a projected “Central Gaming Bill,” which seeks to modulate each forms of online and distant gaming crossed the country.

In a missive dated March 17, 2025 and addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, the federation, done its counsel, Wole Olanipekun & Co., described the legislative determination arsenic a nonstop usurpation of the Supreme Court’s binding determination successful Suit No. SC.1/2008: Attorney-General of Lagos State & Ors v. Attorney-General of the Federation, National Assembly & Ors.

Signed by Bode Olanipekun (SAN) the correspondence warned that proceeding with the measure would magnitude to “judicial battle and law debasement,” since the apex tribunal had already declared that lottery and gaming autumn exclusively wrong the legislative competence of authorities governments, not the National Assembly.

According to the letter, the Supreme Court had connected November 22, 2024, delivered a unanimous judgement invalidating the National Lottery Act and restraining the National Assembly from legislating connected lottery oregon gaming matters beyond the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The court, successful its ruling, held that lottery and gaming are not included successful either the Exclusive oregon Concurrent Legislative Lists nether the 1999 Constitution (as amended), and truthful beryllium to the residual powers of the states.

At leafage 66 of the judgment, the Supreme Court affirmed that “the legislative authorization of each House of Assembly encompasses, among different matters, activities specified arsenic lottery and different forms of gaming.”

The missive further noted that reliefs granted by the apex tribunal categorically barred the National Assembly from making immoderate instrumentality to modulate oregon power the cognition of lottery oregon gaming crossed Nigeria, limiting specified powers lone to the Federal Capital Territory.

Despite this ruling, the Federation alleged that the House of Representatives had introduced a caller measure titled:

“A Bill for an Act to Repeal the National Lottery Act No. 7 of 2005 and the National Lottery (Amendment) Act No. 6 of 2017, and to Enact the Central Gaming Bill 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…”

The bill, listed arsenic HB.2062 successful the National Assembly Journal No. 06, Vol. 22 of February 3, 2025, seeks to reintroduce national power implicit gaming done a projected Federal Gaming Commission, which would license, regulate, and oversee online and distant gaming nationwide.

Olanipekun & Co. contended that the determination is not lone unconstitutional but besides amounts to legislating connected a substance already conclusively decided by the Supreme Court, informing that the National Assembly cannot “reinstate what the Supreme Court has recovered to beryllium illegal.”

“The Bill proceeds arsenic if the House of Representatives is oblivious of the determination successful SC.1/2008 which nullified the National Lottery Act,” the missive stated, adding that adjacent attempting to repeal a statute already declared void by the apex tribunal “is mendacious and constitutionally untenable.”

“You volition admit that nary of the law provisions the Supreme Court considered successful its determination of 22 November 2024 has been altered oregon amended to warrant the instauration of a measure for the intent of legislating connected gaming by the House of Representatives.”

It warned that continuing the process would acceptable a unsafe precedent wherever “every unsuccessful litigant successful tribunal resorts to extra-judicial means to reinstate what the apex tribunal has declared unconstitutional.”

Copies of the missive were besides sent to the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio; Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin; Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu; and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN.

The federation maintained that it would defy immoderate effort to undermine the supremacy of the Supreme Court’s determination and reaffirmed that lone authorities governments person law authorization to modulate lottery, gaming, and related activities wrong their territories.