Nigeria’s Innovation Minister Backs Enugu’s Bid to Lead Gaming Reform

Nigeria’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Dr Kingsley Udeh, will deliver the keynote address at the Enugu Gaming Conference (EGC) 2026, running July 29 and 30 at Enugu’s International Conference Centre (ICC), organizers confirmed. The event carries the theme Code, Capital and Compliance: Unlocking Nigeria’s iGaming Tech Opportunity, and it pulls in regulators, operators, investors and legal experts from across Africa.

Udeh is not a neutral federal face parachuting into a regional trade show. He is an Enugu State insider, and his appearance caps eighteen months in which Enugu moved faster than any other Nigerian state to claim regulatory turf that a Supreme Court ruling took away from Abuja. That backstory, largely absent from the announcement itself, explains why this particular state, and not Lagos or the capital, is hosting the conversation about who controls Nigeria’s gambling money.

A Keynote Enugu Helped Write for Itself

Events Arcade Solutions Limited organized EGC 2026 in partnership with the Enugu State Gaming and Lotteries Commission (ESGC), the state’s own gambling regulator. The Guardian Nigeria first reported Udeh’s confirmation as special guest, quoting ESGC Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer Prince Arinze Arum, who called the minister’s acceptance a significant endorsement of the conference’s vision.

The speaker list reads like a cross-section of Africa’s betting industry rather than a government press conference. Peter Kesitilwe, chief executive of the African iGaming Alliance, will moderate a Government-Industry Roundtable. Jeremiah Maangi, founder of Kenya’s iGaming Afrika, and Kelani Opeyemi Mercy, co-founder of Isoftnova Technologies Limited, join a lineup that also includes Olubiyi Williams of Mamba Play, Immaculata Amaka Mbaso of HILM Associates, and Fisayo Oke, chief executive of Gamble Alert.

The Ruling That Handed States the Keys

None of this happens without a single court decision. Nigeria’s Supreme Court ruled that the National Lottery Act was void and that state legislatures, not the federal government, hold the power to regulate lottery and games of chance. The court found that lotteries and games of chance sit outside the 68 items on the Exclusive Legislative List, the constitutional inventory of matters reserved for federal control, and therefore fall to the states’ residual powers.

The National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), the body that had licensed gambling operators across the country for two decades, lost that authority everywhere except the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The Federal Capital Territory Administration responded by standing up its own FCTA Lottery Regulatory Office to cover Abuja specifically. Everywhere else, the job fell to 36 state governments that, in most cases, had no regulatory machinery in place at all.

Enugu Moved First

Most states are still catching up. Enugu was not. Governor Peter Mbah signed a new gaming and lottery law in 2025 that formally established the ESGC with broad powers to license operators, enforce compliance and protect the public, according to the Guardian Nigeria’s coverage of the signing.

The commission wasted little time using those powers. It has sealed outlets operating without a license as part of what Arum has described as a zero-tolerance policy toward illegal gambling operators. The commission’s own site lists licensing, enforcement and public protection duties that now cover every gaming operator inside the state.

Enugu also helped organize other states into the Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria (FSGRN), a coalition built to keep the post-ruling landscape from splintering into 36 incompatible rulebooks. Its early work centers on three things:

• Regtech monitoring – real-time systems meant to track operator activity and strengthen data integrity and consumer protection
• Responsible gaming education – a shared literacy framework aimed at agents, operators and players alike
• An investment facilitation window – a streamlined approval process designed to cut bureaucratic friction for legitimate investors entering the market

The coalition’s most visible move came when its members, including Arum, worked toward a memorandum of understanding with a European counterpart to benchmark Nigerian practice against established gambling jurisdictions abroad, positioning Enugu’s own commission as a model rather than a follower.

A Market Worth Fighting For

The prize behind all this institution-building is large and growing fast. Nigeria’s gross gaming revenue reached $3.63 billion by the end of 2025, up 61.1 percent from the year before, the biggest total on the continent, according to industry tracker iGaming Afrika, whose founder Jeremiah Maangi is among the conference’s confirmed speakers.

That revenue translates into licensing fees, tax receipts and jobs, all of which now accrue to whichever state government builds the friendliest, most credible regulatory shop. Enugu’s pitch, baked into the conference’s own theme, is that it can offer code, capital and compliance in one place: local tech talent, investor access and a regulator that already has enforcement teeth.

The Minister Enugu Already Knew

Udeh’s presence is less a federal favor than a homecoming. He was born in Ozalla, in Enugu State’s Nkanu West area, and holds law degrees from the University of Nigeria, the University of Nottingham and Stellenbosch University. He is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), the country’s highest rank for courtroom lawyers.

Before he reached the federal cabinet, Udeh served as Enugu State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, appointed in 2023 by the same Governor Mbah who later signed the law creating the ESGC. Nigeria’s state broadcaster announced his swearing-in as innovation minister after President Bola Tinubu nominated him in November 2025 to replace the outgoing Uche Nnaji, a nomination the Senate confirmed within days.

None of that makes his endorsement dishonest. It does mean the framing in the original announcement, that his presence shows the Federal Government’s commitment to technology-enabled sectors, understates what is really happening: a state government leaning on a native son’s new perch in Abuja to pull national attention toward its own regulatory project.

• What we know: Udeh is confirmed as keynote speaker, the conference runs July 29 to 30 at Enugu’s International Conference Centre, and its agenda includes a Government-Industry Roundtable moderated by African iGaming Alliance chief executive Peter Kesitilwe.

• What’s unconfirmed: Neither Events Arcade Solutions nor the ESGC has published the specific policy commitments Udeh is expected to announce, and no investment figures tied to the conference have been made public.

What Does a State-by-State Patchwork Mean for Operators?

Operators licensed in one state have no automatic right to work in another, so a platform serving customers nationwide may need separate approvals, fees and compliance checks in every state where it operates. Legal advisories aimed at the industry now describe 2026 as the year gaming companies need a state-by-state regulatory map just to stay licensed.

That is the cost side of the same ruling that freed Enugu to build its commission. A single federal regulator, however imperfect, at least offered one set of rules. Thirty-six potential regulators, each moving at its own pace, raises compliance costs for any operator trying to serve the whole country rather than one state’s market. The FSGRN’s coordination push exists precisely because Enugu and its peers know a fully fragmented system could scare off the same investors the Enugu conference is trying to attract.

Nigeria now runs on a regulatory map the old federal law never had: dozens of potential referees, one national market, and a $3.63 billion industry that has to figure out, state by state, whose rules actually apply.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria?

The Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria (FSGRN) is a coalition of state gaming commissions formed after the Supreme Court ruling to coordinate standards across Nigeria’s newly independent state regulators. In September, the group worked with Switzerland’s Gespa, the Swiss Intercantonal Gambling Authority, to align enforcement and consumer protection practices with international norms.

Who Regulates Online Betting in Abuja?

Abuja falls outside every state’s authority because it sits inside the Federal Capital Territory. After the Supreme Court limited the National Lottery Regulatory Commission’s power to that territory alone, the Federal Capital Territory Administration set up its own FCTA Lottery Regulatory Office to license and oversee gaming operators there.

Is Online Betting Legal in Nigeria?

Yes, through operators licensed by a state gaming commission or, inside Abuja, the FCTA Lottery Regulatory Office. Enugu’s commission has sealed outlets operating without a license and says it uses geo-location technology to separate licensed platforms from unregistered ones.

What Is Dr Kingsley Udeh’s Professional Background?

Udeh is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria with law degrees from the University of Nigeria, the University of Nottingham and Stellenbosch University. He served as Enugu State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice under Governor Peter Mbah before President Bola Tinubu nominated him for the federal innovation ministry in November 2025.