Nigeria Lottery Commission Implements Measures Against Money Laundering

The National Lottery Regulatory Commission has introduced stringent measures to deter money laundering, financing of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and other predicate offences in the lottery industry in its unrelenting effort to serve Nigeria and the industry better.

Mr. Magnus Ekechukwu, Head of Public Affairs for the commission, said essentially, the new technology based measures are being attained through information and intelligence sharing with the relevant agencies and arms of government.

Ekechukwu spoke to journalists at the sideline of a workshop on Effects of Hate Speech, Fake News, Financial and Cyber crimes on National Security in Nassarawa on behalf of the Director General of the Commission, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, over the weekend.

Ekechukwu disclosed that the National Lottery Regulatory Commission under the leadership of Gbajabiamila had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and the National Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF) for efficient and effective implementation of the measures.

He told journalists that since assumption of office, the Director-General has been methodically and successfully introducing well thought out and sustainable policies and programs that have repositioned the 15 years old commission which are now engendering profound results in terms of revenue generation, promotion and protection of stakeholders including the stakers and most importantly supporting the Federal Government in its fight against corruption, terrorism and insecurity, generally.

The Lottery Commission’s spokesperson explained that the objective of the recently signed MOU with the agencies was to strengthen and ensure transparency in the Nigerian Lottery industry; facilitate exchange of knowledge and expertise through training programs and promote a better understanding of economic and legal conditions relevant to the enforcement of applicable laws and statutes.

Furthermore, Ekechukwu said the MOU would equally aid the establishment of a framework for the protection of lottery and financial stakeholders in relation to lottery-based activities undertaken by lottery operators and their partners and as well facilitate research and education measures to increase efficiency and staff exchange programs.

He said the commission was totally committed and dedicated to the war against corruption and insecurity being fought by the Federal Government and would spare no efforts in playing its part as a responsible and responsive commission of the government.

In addition, Ekechukwu stated that the commission was also contributing significantly to the diversification of the economy being diligently executed by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari saying: “the National Lottery Regulatory Commission is gradually becoming a major source of revenue for the country. We are working hard on this and very soon, we shall become a major revenue earner for Nigeria.

“You know we have already passed the billion Naira mark as against the less that N600 million revenue we were earning before ‘Mr. Lottery’, Gbajabiamila assumed office. With him, we shall get there, very soon. Our commitment is total.”