The National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, and the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, on Wednesday in Abuja, signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding with provisions to prevent unauthorized lottery and gaming practices on telecommunications platforms through information and intelligence sharing.
Prof. Umar Danbatta, executive vice chairman of the NCC, noted that the MoU, which will have an impact on the gaming industry, is in line with the Commission’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP) and is intended to promote ethical business practices for the protection of telecommunications consumers in relation to lottery and gaming activities.
According to him, the engagement complies with the Commission’s SVP, 2021–2025, which calls for the promotion of strategic partnerships and cooperation with other organizations in order to improve service delivery.
He explained, “The initial MoU expired in 2022, amendments and modifications have been made since no MoU is cast in stone, especially given the industry’s dynamic nature.”
The Director General of NLRC, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, expressed hope that NCC and NLRC will succeed in their goals for the benefit of gaming stakeholders and expressed confidence that the MoU will have a positive impact on reducing unlawful online gambling.
He pointed out that unapproved lottery and gaming operations damage the integrity of domestic and international gaming markets to the disadvantage of stakeholders in addition to reducing consumer confidence in these markets, which is why the Commission is working with him to stop such trends.
The MoU was created to address recent technological information-sharing capabilities, consumer satisfaction, and to improve areas of co-regulation in line with the Federal Government’s mandate for the digital economy, according to Executive Commissioner (Stakeholder Management), Barr. Adeleke Adewolu. He made this disclosure earlier in his opening remarks.
One that was initially signed by both parties and was set to expire in 2022 is being replaced by the new MoU. In recognition of how unapproved lottery and gaming activities and practices undermine the integrity of domestic and international gaming markets to the detriment of stakeholders in addition to undermining consumer confidence in these markets, it provides complementary approaches to deter unapproved lottery/gaming practices on telecommunications platforms through information and intelligence sharing.
According to the agreement, NCC would try to restrict or disable unlawful lottery gaming businesses on the telecommunications service providers’ platform in Nigeria upon requests from NLRC.
The MoU and other topics that encourage cooperation between the two organizations in their regulatory functions were implemented by a Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) made up of representatives of the NCC and NLRC.