Some betting companies the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LSLGA) listed as unlicensed in a publication on Tuesday have valid registrations with the Federal Government, FIJ can report.
The LSLGA released a public notice on Tuesday stating that some 43 lottery and gaming platforms had no license to operate in the state and advised the gaming population to stay away from patronising them.
The statement read in part, “The attention of LSLGA has been drawn to the activities of some organisations conducting gaming operations in Lagos State without obtaining the prerequisite licenses from LSLGA and thereby in contravention of Section 33(3) of the Lagos State Lotteries and Gamine Authority Law 2021, which provides that “a person without a subsisting license or authorisation from the Authority shall not conduct or operate any gaming activity in the State.” The erring organisations/gaming operators are listed below:
WWW.SEARCHNG.NG – Search on Sells.ng Nigeria's First Ecommerce Shopping Search Engine ...For More About This Post: REVEALED: No Evidence of Erisco’s Nagiko Tomato Approval on NAFDAC’s Website
“ZEBET, BETIKA, GOBET, MSPORT, 22BET, AFRIBET, BESTBET360, BANGBET, BETWAZOBIA, NETBET, NAIRAMILLION, WESTERN LOTTO, ELLIEST LOTTO, RIDERLOTTO, PEELSLOTTO, SETLOTTO, HAMABET, KORETBET, PARIPESA, MEGABET, LIVESCOREBET, BLACKBET/BETTYBINGO, CLOUDBET, SPORTBET.IO, HALLABET, ODDSPEDIA, N1BET, NGAWIN, MILLIONAIREPOWERPLAY, LOTTOMANIA, FIRSTBET, BETXPERIENCE, GIVERAFFLE, KNOFAMBET, WAKABET, BETFARM, SCRATCH2WIN, CHOPBARH, NAIJABET, PLENTYMILLIONS, NAIRAPOWERBET, GAMESPAY, XTRAGOALSFANTASY.
“Kindly be informed that the Lagos State Government derives powers to regulate lottery and gaming from the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) as gaming activities are not included in the Exclusive Legislative List nor the Concurrent Legislative of the constitution.
“It is an item on the Residual List and exclusive to the jurisdiction of the federating states in Nigeria. This position has been established and elucidated by several judicial decisions.
WWW.SEARCHNG.NG – Search on Sells.ng Nigeria's First Ecommerce Shopping Search Engine ...For More About This Post: NAFDAC Explains Why Nagiko Tomato’s Registration Is Absent From Its Database
“Consequently, the public is hereby advised to desist and/or discontinues from staking/betting on the platforms of the above-listed organisations/gaming operators as they are deemed illegal and unknown to LSLGA, and their gaming activities are against the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and contravenes the provisions of the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority Law 2021 (as amended).”
FIJ has, however, found that some of the lottery and gaming companies have valid and running registrations with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).
PLATFORMS WITH VALID REGISTRATION
S/NPLATFORMLICENSE VALIDITY1ZEBETMarch 27, 2020 to March 26, 2025.2BETIKASeptember 11, 2020 to September 10, 2025.3GOBETMay 14, 2022 to May 13, 2027.4MSPORTDecember 12, 2019 to December 11, 2024.522BETSeptember 22, 2020 to September 21, 2025.6BANGBETOctober 14, 2020 to October 13, 2025.7WESTERN LOTTO LIMITEDJune 4, 2015 to June 3, 2025.8KORET BETMarch 28, 2023 to March 27, 2028.9PARIPESAMarch 27, 2023 to March 26, 2028.10CLOUD BETMarch 27, 2019 to 26 March 26, 2024.11HALLABETAugust 15, 2023 to August 14, 2028.12N1BETMarch 17, 2021 to March 16, 2026.13MILLIONAIRE POWERPLAY LTDMay 26, 2023 to May 25, 2033.14LOTTOMANIAJune 6, 2023 to June 5, 2033.
While our findings showed that 14 of the lottery platforms claimed to be unlicensed in Lagos State have valid approvals, we found no registration information of the remaining 29 platforms on the federal agency’s website.
PLATFORMS WITH NO REGISTRATION EVIDENCE
S/NPLATFORM1AFRIBET2BESTBET3BETWAZOBIA4NETBET5NAIRAMILLION6ELLIEST LOTTO7RIDERLOTTO8PEELS LOTTO9SET LOTTO10HAMA BET11MEGA BET12LIVESCOREBET13SPORTBET.IO14ODDSPEDIA15NGAWIN16FIRSTBET17BETXPERIENCE18GIVERAFFLE19KONFAMBET20WAKABET21BETFARM22SCRATCH2WIN23CHOPBARH24NAIJABET25PLENTYMILLIONS26NAIRAPOWERBET27GAMESPAY28XTRAGOALSFANTASY29BESTBET360
Kemi Adebiyi, a senior legal officer at the LSLGA, who answered FIJ’s phone call for comments on this story on Wednesday, said she had no authority to speak with the media. She, however, asked this reporter to bring a letter to their office to speak with Bashir Are, the agency’s chief executive officer.
FIJ’s subsequent email to the agency on the subject had not been responded to as of the time of this publication.
REGULATORY CONFLICT
This newspaper found that there have been some unhealthy regulatory battles between the Federal Government’s National Lottery Regulatory Commission and the LSLGA, leading to lawsuits with different outcomes.
On July 19, 2023, Justice Iniekenimi Oweibo of the Federal High Court (FHC) in Lagos State ruled that the federal government, through the National Assembly, had the exclusive right to legislate and control lottery activities in the country.
Few months after the FHC judgement, a Lagos State High Court delivered another judgement holding that matters pertaining to lottery and one-chance betting were subjects under the residual list in the constitution. By this, the judge held that Lagos State had the right to regulate the sector.
WWW.SEARCHNG.NG – Search on Sells.ng Nigeria's First Ecommerce Shopping Search Engine ...For More About This Post: FACT-CHECK: Did Port-Harcourt Pastor Fabian Nna Truly Wake Up a Dead Man?
Back in 2018, a federal high court had also stripped Lagos State of lottery regulatory powers in a suit FHC/L/CS/918/17 between Western Lotto Nigeria Ltd & 8 ors and Attorney General & ors. At the time, the state government vowed to appeal the judgement.
Similar conflicts on which level of government has the right powers to police the lottery, casino and gaming industries persist in Ogun State and some other states, creating an uncomfortable environment for investors.
The post REVEALED: 14 of 43 Betting Platforms Declared Unlicensed by Lagos Gov’t Have Federal Approval appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.