•Fashola and Sagay
Legal giants yesterday said the Supreme Court judgment that nullified the National Lottery Act would deepen federalism.
The Supreme Court held last Friday that the Lagos House of Assembly and those of other states have the powers, to the exclusion of the National Assembly, to make laws for the regulation and control of lottery matters, reports The Nation.
Former Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, revered professor of Law Itse Sagay, former Ekiti State Attorney-General Gboyega Oyewole and leading prosecutor Wahab Shittu, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs), underscored the role of the Supreme Court in restructuring.
In separate telephone interviews with our reporter, they praised Lagos for initiating the suit and urged others to follow suit and challenge other unconstitutional laws.
Fashola, under whose administration the suit was initiated, said though he had not read the judgment to know the details of the reasoning, the verdict was the intended outcome of the action.
He said it followed similar cases, such as the local government suit under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as governor when he (Fashola) was Chief of Staff; the state’s challenge of the federal law on urban planning, which required obtaining building permits in Abuja; and the suit on tourism, in which the Supreme Court held that Federal Government’s role was limited to regulating tourist traffic, such as issuance of visa, entry permits.
Fashola said: “These judgments all ascertain the legislative powers of component states in a federation on residual matters.
“The interesting thing about lottery is that it impinges on the revenue space of the state.
“This is an opportunity for states to regulate the operation of lottery and gaming and optimise not just the revenue possibilities but also safeguard young people.
“This is because families have also been damaged by gaming and betting, so it is sensible to expect that the government that is closer to them will be able not just to make regulations about safety and what is reasonable, but also enforce compliance at the sub-national level.”
The former Minister of Works said restructuring cannot only be through a constitutional amendment.
“The work of the Supreme Court in providing clarity and interpretation helps to enrich the quality of the Constitution itself.
“There’s a book called: ‘The History of the Supreme Court’ by Peter Irons, which shows that most of the significant reforms in the United States constitutional history were through the decisions of the Supreme Court.
“This (lottery verdict) is a step in that direction. The work of making the union much better is not just by constitutional amendment, but constitutional interpretation as well.
“To that extent, I think that there is something to be enthused about, but I would like to read the judgment for more details of what it contains,” Fashola said.
Sagay was delighted with the judgment, saying it accorded with the principles of federalism.
He said: “The Supreme Court is absolutely right. I had written a brief on this matter for Lagos when this issue came up years ago. It was very clear that it was a state matter.
“There are two decisions which the Supreme Court took recently which delights me. This one (nullifying the National Lottery Act) preserves the authority of states in the Constitution, which the Federal Government was trying to override. Thanks, they’ve been put in their place. The other one was the judgment on the powers of the EFCC.”
Sagay believes the Supreme Court was effectively addressing the issues raised by advocates of restructuring and true federalism.
