Nigerian States Challenge Federal Gambling Law

The Centralized Gambling Regulation Bill 2025 was recently tabled in the House of Representatives. The initiative was initiated by Deputy Speaker Okezie Kalu, in collaboration with six other members of parliament. Essentially, the document is an attempt to restore the provisions of the repealed National Lottery Act, adapting them to the modern digital space. The bill seeks to repeal the 2005 law and seeks to regulate all forms of online gambling throughout the federation. It has already passed its third reading.

However, this approach raises serious legal concerns. According to the interpretation of a recent Supreme Court decision, the National Lottery Regulation Act 2005 itself has been declared invalid. Therefore, it makes no sense to repeal a legally invalid document. The National Lotteries Regulatory Commission has also lost its powers, and its actions and issued permits no longer have legal force.

With the previous national model no longer functioning, all matters relating to lottery and gambling activities have been transferred to the governments of individual states. Under the current legislation, it is the states that have exclusive powers to regulate gambling in their territory. This means that operators must be guided by regional regulations and obtain licenses directly from the authorities of the relevant federal subjects. If the law is adopted, the states will lose the ability to control the licensing of operators and the distribution of tax revenues. This poses a direct threat to the budgets of regions such as Lagos and Kano, where gambling is one of the sources of income.