The Supreme Court Friday nullified the National Lottery Act 2005, enacted by the National Assembly.
The judgement follows a suit filed in 2008 by Lagos and 34 other states, which challenged the constitutionality of the Act.
Plaintiffs had prayed the apex court to declare that the lottery is not one of the 68 items for which the National Assembly has the exclusive vires to make laws under Part 1 of the Second Schedule of the 1999 Constitution as amended. They also prayed the apex court to declare that the National Assembly lacks the vires to legally and constitutionally make any law to regulate and control the operation of lottery in Nigeria.
Ruling on Friday, a seven-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Mohammed Idris, held that the National Assembly lacked the powers to legislate on issues relating to lottery and games of chance.
The court in a unanimous decision, held that only the State House of Assembly, wielded exclusive jurisdiction over lottery and games of chance.
Therefore, it declared the enforcement of the National Lottery Act 2005 in all 36 states of the Federation, illegal, null, void and unconstitutional.
