The Director General, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, Lanre Gbajabiamila, has asked all erring lottery operators to defray all debts owed to the Federal Government or face stiff sanctions, which may include revocation of licenses, as well as arrests and prosecution.
Magnus Ekechukwu, Assistant Director, Public Affairs of NLRC, in a statement, said Mr. Gbajabiamila gave this warning at a meeting in Abuja between the management of the NLRC and lottery operators, especially those who had failed to comply fully with the terms and conditions of their licenses and operating permits.
At the meeting, which had several sister regulatory agencies as observers, the Director General stated, in clear terms, that “all operators owing the federal government within the lottery industry would be made to cough out all they owe.”
He pointed out that the Commission had been magnanimous enough to show understanding with the operators regarding their operational challenges, but said the Commission must not lose sight of its mandate nor the operators their obligations to the government.
“Commission has been magnanimous enough to understand with operators, over time, but operators need to understand that they have obligations to government.
“The commission is under pressure to prove itself against the backdrop of the feeling of underperformance by our supervising agencies; it will not be business as usual, henceforth; erring operators may have their licenses/ permits revoked” he stated.
He further stated that inter agency synergy with the EFCC, NFIU, NCC, NPF, SCUML, as well as NITDA would help the Commission in realizing this objective.
The DG stated that, beginning from 2020, the Commission would seek to strengthen its regulatory efforts through a number of measures, including forensic audit of all operators’ financial transactions, spot checks, data transmission to Central Monitoring System, monthly vetting of operational record books, and other provisions of the terms and conditions of their licenses and permits.
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