By BENJAMIN OMOIKE I Wednesday, October 15, 2025
LAGOS, NIGERIA — Nigeria’s capital city is on a collision course with the National Assembly after a blistering attack over a proposed new law to regulate all forms of online gambling.
Lawal Pedro, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice for Lagos State, tore into the federal lawmakers yesterday, branding their efforts to pass the Central Gaming Bill a “voyage of unconstitutionality.”
Speaking at a fiery press briefing, the top lawman warned the Senate to pull the plug on the bill—which is already passed by the lower House of Representatives—or face “constitutional chaos.”
The controversial bill aims to regulate all online and remote gaming across the entire nation, but Pedro says the move flies directly in the face of a binding ruling from the country’s highest court.
He emphatically stressed that the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered a landmark judgement just last year, declaring that lotteries, betting, and gaming are residual matters—meaning only State Houses of Assembly, and NOT the Federal Parliament, have the power to legislate on them.
”The Supreme Court ruled unequivocally that the National Lottery Act 2005 was unconstitutional,” Pedro declared. “To now attempt to legislate again on the same subject is to defy the Supreme Court, to violate the Constitution, and to invite constitutional chaos.”
The judgement on October 13, 2024, decisively nullified the old lottery act, issuing a perpetual injunction against the Federal Government from enforcing it in any State.
’ONLINE DOESN’T MEAN FEDERAL’
Pedro dismissed the lawmakers’ argument that the bill is justified because it concerns online gaming.
”Whether a lottery is conducted over the counter or via a mobile application, it remains a game of chance within a State’s territory,” he argued, issuing a stinging rebuttal. “‘Online’ does not mean ‘Federal,'” he slammed.
He warned that proceeding with the Central Gaming Bill would amount to contempt of court and a disastrous erosion of Nigeria’s federal system.
”This is not just about Lagos State. It is about the Rule of Law… and the integrity of the Supreme Court,” Pedro thundered, urging the Senate to immediately reject the bill to maintain “legal certainty and national unity.”
The fight over who controls the lucrative Nigerian betting market has officially moved from the Supreme Court to a tense political showdown.
