Lagos Drags National Assembly To Supreme Court Over Central Gaming Bill

Lagos State has approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to initiate contempt proceedings against the National Assembly for allegedly defying a subsisting judgment of the apex court by continuing work on the proposed Central Gaming Bill.

In a motion filed on behalf of the Attorney-General of Lagos State by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Bode Olanipekun, the state is asking the Supreme Court for leave to begin judgment enforcement through the issuance of Form 48 — the formal notice of disobedience that precedes contempt or committal proceedings under Nigerian law.

The issuance of Form 48 serves as an official warning to any individual or body found to be in contempt of a court order. Failure to comply after its issuance may result in committal to prison.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the motion, Lagos State contended that the National Assembly’s ongoing consideration of the Central Gaming Bill directly violates the Supreme Court’s judgment in SC.1/2008 – Attorney-General of Lagos State & Ors. v. Attorney-General of the Federation & Ors., delivered on November 22, 2024.

The state argued that Clauses 7 and 21–64 of the proposed Bill deal entirely with lottery and gaming—subjects which the Supreme Court had previously ruled fall outside the legislative competence of the National Assembly.

Lagos maintained that the provisions in question effectively reproduce sections of the now-nullified National Lottery Act, which was struck down in the 2024 judgment. Both the voided Act and the new Bill, it noted, define “lottery” and “online gaming” in identical terms—covering any game, scheme, arrangement, or competition of chance (or skill and chance) requiring a licence to operate.

The affidavit further stated that Clause 62 of the Central Gaming Bill introduces “savings provisions” that seek to revalidate actions taken under the invalidated National Lottery Act, an act Lagos described as a direct affront to the authority of the Supreme Court.

The state also emphasized that since the 2024 judgment, neither the Exclusive nor Concurrent Legislative Lists under the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution (as amended) have been amended to include lottery or gaming—confirming, in its view, that the National Assembly still lacks the constitutional power to legislate on the matter.

In its 2024 decision, the Supreme Court had ruled unequivocally that lottery and gaming do not fall under any item in the constitutional Legislative Lists and, therefore, cannot be regulated by an Act of the National Assembly. The court rejected arguments that federal authority could be derived from Item 62 of the Exclusive Legislative List—which covers “trade and commerce”—or from the interstate or electronic nature of gaming activities.

By returning to the apex court, Lagos State is now seeking to enforce compliance with that ruling through contempt proceedings—a step that could set a major constitutional precedent on the limits of federal legislative power and the binding force of Supreme Court judgments in Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.