President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured state governments that he will not assent to the Central Gaming Bill recently passed by the National Assembly, insisting that lottery and gaming fall outside the constitutional responsibilities of the Federal Government.

Tinubu made this position clear on Friday in Abuja while addressing leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting.

Describing himself as a “constitutional democrat,” the President said he understands the limits of his executive and legislative powers.
“I know where my constitutional powers start and where they end,” Tinubu told party leaders, including governors and federal lawmakers.

The National Assembly had, on December 2, passed the Central Gaming Bill, which seeks to empower the Federal Government to regulate lottery and gaming activities across states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). However, the bill has sparked strong opposition, particularly from the Lagos State Government.

Lagos, through its Attorney-General and represented by Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), wrote to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), warning President Tinubu against assenting to the bill. The state argued that signing the legislation would violate a subsisting Supreme Court judgment that nullified the National Lottery Act.

In the December 12 letter, Olanipekun urged the AGF to advise the President to withhold assent, stressing that the Supreme Court had ruled that lottery and gaming are residual matters reserved exclusively for state governments.

Speaking at the APC NEC meeting, Tinubu aligned with that position, despite the executive and the majority of lawmakers belonging to the same political party.
“What I want you to forget is centralised lotto. Go and read the Constitution again. It is a residual matter,” he said.
“Residual matters belong to the legislative authority of the states.”

He warned proponents of the bill to desist, stating unequivocally that he would not sign it if transmitted to him.
“Don’t tread near it. There’s no need for us to argue. I am a constitutional democrat. Lottery, lotto law, centralised lotto, gaming, whatever it is, I have read it. I know it is coming, and I won’t sign it,” the President declared.

In his letter to the AGF, Olanipekun reminded the Federal Government of its obligation to respect Supreme Court judgments, particularly Suit No. SC.1/2008 between the Attorney-General of Lagos State and others versus the Attorney-General of the Federation and others.

He recalled that in a unanimous judgment delivered on November 22, 2024, the apex court nullified the National Lottery Act, holding that the National Assembly lacked the constitutional authority to legislate on lottery and gaming.

Olanipekun expressed concern that despite the ruling, the National Assembly went ahead to pass another law on the same subject, styled as the Central Gaming Bill.
“We are further informed that the said legislation purports to repeal the National Lottery Act, as if it were an existing law that had not already been nullified by the Supreme Court,” he wrote.

He stressed that the Supreme Court had already rejected arguments that lottery and gaming qualify as interstate or online economic activities that would justify federal regulation, noting that the bill’s provisions on revenue sharing also conflict with constitutional requirements.