NLRC Condemns Acts Of Forgery In Gaming Industry, Threatens Prosection Of Culprits

The National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) has threatened to deploy every available legal instrument to weed out all criminal elements operating within the Nigerian Gaming Industry even as it condemned forgery of sports betting permits.

The Director General of the Commission, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, gave the warning against the backdrop of discovery of a forged Sports Betting Permit of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission by some criminal elements operating in Lagos State.

In a statement signed by the NLRC Head, Public Affairs, Magnus Ekechukwu, the Director General further disclosed that the criminals had been arrested and are currently being prosecuted to serve as deterrent to others who could be nursing similar ideas.

According to Mr Gbajabiamila, “It is quite appalling to discover that at this time and age, people could want to defraud the Federal Government believing they would not be arrested. Let all criminals steer clear of the Lottery industry because I can assure them, they would be arrested and prosecuted.

“The criminals already arrested will serve as an example to other criminal elements with intention to defraud the government. We will neither allow nor tolerate such criminality in our industry.”

The Director General maintained that the Commission stands for integrity, transparency and accountability which are the hallmarks of the gaming business in Nigeria.

He stressed that any operator who fails to heed these core values runs the risk of violating the rules and guidelines of the Commission; a situation that attracts stringent consequences.

Mr. Gbajabiamila further urged staff of the Commission, licensed operators, as well as the general public to be more vigilant in the quest to fish out illegal operators who are out there to thwart the good effort of the Commission in building a robust Nigerian Gaming industry, while also encouraging the licensed operators to always play by the rules.