Lagos State Government has approached the Supreme Court seeking leave to commence contempt proceedings against the National Assembly for allegedly violating a subsisting judgment of the apex court that acknowledged federal legislation on lottery and gaming unconstitutional.

In a motion filed by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lagos is asking the court for permission to initiate judgment-enforcement proceedings through the issuance of Form 48 — a legal notice that leads contempt or committal proceedings.

Under Nigerian law, Form 48 serves as an official warning to a person or authority acting in defiance of a court order. Failure to comply after service may result in committal to prison.

According to Lagos’ counsel, Bode Olanipekun (SAN), the National Assembly’s ongoing consideration of the proposed Central Gaming Bill is in direct breach of 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 maintained, in a supporting affidavit, that several provisions of the bill — particularly clauses 7 and 21–64 — deal with lottery and gaming matters, despite the apex court having ruled that such matters fall outside the National Assembly’s legislative competence.

It outlined the clauses mirror those contained in the now-voided National Lottery Act, which the court struck down in 2024.

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The affidavit disclosed that both the invalidated law and the new bill define “lottery” and “online gaming” in the same terms, covering games of chance or skill requiring a licence to operate.

Lagos further pointed to Clause 62 of the bill, which seeks to preserve previous actions taken under the nullified law, describing it as a deliberate attempt to undermine the Supreme Court’s authority.

The state highlighted that since the 2024 ruling, no amendment had been made to the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, which contains the Exclusive and Concurrent Legislative Lists, to include lottery or gaming.

This, it said, reinforces that such matters remain within state jurisdiction.

In the 2024 judgment, the Supreme Court had held that lottery and gaming regulation lies outside the legislative powers of the National Assembly, rejecting arguments that federal authority could be implied from Item 62 (trade and commerce) on the Exclusive List or from the electronic and interstate nature of gaming operations.

By returning to the Supreme Court, Lagos is seeking to enforce that judgment through contempt proceedings — a move that could set an important precedent on the limits of federal legislative power and the supremacy of judicial authority within Nigeria’s constitutional framework.