The Lagos State government has applied to the Supreme Court for permission to commence contempt proceedings against the National Assembly for continuing work on the Central Gaming Bill despite a subsisting judgment declaring such legislation unconstitutional.
In a motion filed on behalf of the Attorney-General of Lagos State by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Bode Olanipekun, the state is seeking the Supreme Court’s leave to initiate judgment enforcement proceedings through the issuance of Form 48, a legal step that precedes committal or contempt action.
Under Nigerian law, Form 48 serves as a formal warning to any person or body in contempt of court, and failure to purge the contempt after its issuance may lead to imprisonment.
According to the affidavit in support of the motion, Lagos State argued that the National Assembly’s continued deliberation on the Central Gaming Bill directly contravenes 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 contended that clauses 7 and 21–64 of the proposed Bill deal entirely with lottery and gaming, matters which the Supreme Court had already ruled fall outside the National Assembly’s legislative competence. It added that these provisions mirror those in the now-nullified National Lottery Act, which the apex court struck down in the same 2024 judgment.
Lagos further noted that both the defunct National Lottery Act and the new Central Gaming Bill define “lottery” and “online gaming” in identical terms, as any game, scheme, arrangement, system, or promotional competition based on chance, skill and chance, or sporting outcomes requiring a licence to operate.
The affidavit emphasised that despite the Supreme Court’s 2024 decision invalidating the National Lottery Act, Clause 62 of the Central Gaming Bill seeks to revalidate actions taken under the voided law, amounting to a direct challenge to the authority of the apex court.
Lagos also argued that since the judgment was delivered, 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 that the National Assembly lacks the power to legislate on the matter.
The 2024 judgment had categorically held that lottery and gaming cannot be regulated by any Act of the National Assembly, as they are not listed under the constitutional Legislative Lists. The court rejected the National Assembly’s claim that its authority derived from Item 62 of the Exclusive Legislative List, which covers “trade and commerce,” or that the electronic and interstate nature of gaming placed it under federal jurisdiction.
By returning to the Supreme Court, Lagos State seeks to enforce that ruling through contempt proceedings, a move that could set a major precedent on the limits of federal legislative power and reinforce the supremacy of judicial authority in Nigeria’s constitutional framework.
