The Senate on Tuesday stepped down a bill seeking to establish the National e-Gaming Agency and its Governing Board.
Presiding over plenary, the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, expressed concerns that the Bill which was sponsored by Senator Karimi Sunday Steve (APC, Kogi West) may contradict an earlier judgment by the Supreme Court.
He therefore urged its withdrawal to allow for proper scrutiny aimed at preventing conflict with the ruling of the apex court.
The Supreme Court in Suit No. SC/1/2008, Attorney General of Lagos State & Ors. vs. Attorney General of the Federation & Ors delivered in 2024 nullified the National Lottery Act 2005 as enacted by the National Assembly.
The judgment followed a suit filed in 2008 by Lagos and other states of the Federation, challenging the National Assembly’s powers to regulate lottery activities.
A seven-member panel of the court led by Uwani Abba-Aji unanimously held that the law is unconstitutional because the National Assembly lacks the power to make such laws for states.
Delivering the lead judgment, a member of the panel, Mohammed Idris, ruled that the National Assembly, by virtue of constitutional provisions, lacks the powers to legislate on issues relating to lottery and games of chance.
Meanwhile, earlier in his presentation, the Sponsor of the bill, Senator Karimi, argued that while the judgment of the Apex Court focused on physical lottery, it however neglected cyber lottery which falls within the powers of the National Assembly to legislate on.
“However, the decision of the Supreme Court is limited to physical lottery and does not take into cognisance online gaming activities within the cyber space of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which is within the exclusive legislative component of the National Assembly by virtue of item 67 of the exclusive legislative list,” he argued.
He said the Bill repeals the National Lottery Act 2005, and enacts the e-gaming regulatory framework to prevent cyber security threats and ensure revenue generation from online gaming.
He continued that the national e-gaming agency represented in this bill will be dedicated. The e-gaming regulatory agency will help to regulate and monitor the industry by ensuring that the e-gaming platform implements strong cyber security, cyber protection policy and combined with financial regulation.
The bill sponsor explained that “the agency will collaborate with law enforcement such as the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, the National Financial Security Intelligence and the office of the national Security Adviser, to detect and prevent cyber crimes linked to online gaming, thereby strengthening Nigeria’s total security, and safeguarding the citizen from cyber threats.
“This proposed legislation in view of the wide coverage of cyberspace has the potential of generating massive revenue to support the development of strategic projects and infrastructure across the country as it is done in other jurisdictions of the world.
“Having this in mind, the bill also contemplates establishing an e-gaming trust fund for remittances and utilisation of online gaming for developmental strides in line with best practices. The utilisation of the proceeds from this fund will target projects such as security and public safety, access to improved quality healthcare services, promotion of sustainable agricultural practices and food supply, stocks, and youth development and empowerment, advancement of educational and skills development, access to clean water and sanitation, provision of social services and welfare programmes, climate change mitigation and adaptation, disaster management and provision of humanitarian services,” among others.
