Lottery commission threatens to arrest, revoke licences of erring operators
In a move to tackle challenges of dwindling revenue, 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.
Gbajabiamila gave this warning yesterday, in Abuja, at a meeting between the management of the Commission and lottery operators, especially those who had failed to comply fully with the terms and conditions of their licenses and operating Permits.
According to the Director, the commission has carried its licensed operators along for so long as a show of understanding towards their plight including jurisdictional challenges, and would therefore not rest on its oars in ensuring that all monies owed to the government are collected on or before December 31st, 2019.
The Director stated: “All operators owing the federal government within the lottery industry would be made to cough out all they owe.” adding that the NLRC could not be found wanting in discharging its mandate, especially in the aspect of revenue generation.
Noting that the commission has been magnanimous enough to show understanding with the operators, regarding their operational challenges, Gbajabiamila insisted that the Commission, in turn, will 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 the 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.
Continuing, 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.
He urged operators to go back with the mindset of making amends where necessary.
Legal Adviser to the Commission, TankoAshang, advised the erring operators to ensure they comply with their respective obligations to the government regarding their remittances.
He said he was seconded to the commission to further advance the mandate of the Attorney General of the Federation and would not hesitate to prosecute defaulters who fell short from the Terms and Conditions of their licenses and or permits.
Some of the operators who spoke at the meeting listed their operational challenges to include jurisdictional rivalry between the federal and state governments which they said was affecting their operation and double taxation.
They solicited for the support of the commission in overcoming these challenges and pledging compliance to fulfilling their obligations to the Commission and the government.
