Lottery Commission seeks review of MOU with EFCC  

Stanley Ihedigbo

Director General,  National Lottery Commission (NLRC), Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, has called for a review of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), and his Commission in order to keep pace with realities in the gaming industry across the world.

According to the Head, Media and Publicity, EFCC, Mr Dele Oyewale, the call was made in Abuja, when Gbajabiamila and his management team paid a courtesy visit to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede at the corporate headquarters of the Commission.

He commended the EFCC for its assistance and collaboration with the NLRC in the recovery of its unremitted funds.

 “I also want to thank the Commission a lot for assisting us in the recovery of lottery funds, we have reached some goals but I will say without the Commission, we wouldn’t have made some recoveries. So, having said that, we need to bring some matters to the Chairman and the Commission and the most important one is the MOU that we had with the EFCC which dated back to 2015 and due to the passage of time and the current realities in the lottery industry, there is the need to review the provisions of this MOU.

He  disclosed that the NLRC is collaborating with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in order to monitor and tackle terrorism financing and money laundering and other fraudulent financial activities, within the game industry.

 Additionally, the NLRC stated that  operators in the lottery industry  urgently needed enhanced training by officers of the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering (SCUML) so as  to be acquainted with extant rules and regulations relevant to the lottery industry.

Responding, Olukoyede, appreciated the visit and commended the NLRC for adhering to rules and regulations governing the lottery industry.

He assured the delegation of the Commission’s readiness to review the MOU  existing between the two agencies

“Yes, we have listened to your presentation and I agreed with you that there’s the need for us to review the existing MOU, with respect to some contemporary issues especially changes in laws and regulatory requirements

He explained that with the NLRC as a regulator and the EFCC as an enforcement agency,  collaboration would help  to  sanitize the gaming industry.