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The
Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and National Lottery Regulatory
Commission (NLRC) on Tuesday in Abuja entered into a pact with the signing of a
Memorandum of Understand (MoU).
This
is coming as NCC explained that NLRC has the regulatory backing to sanction any
lottery on the platform of Global System for Mobile (GSM) operators in the
country.
According
to the Head, Media and Public Relations at NCC, Mr. Reuben Muoka, in a press statement
made available to ITRealms Online, said that the explanation over GSM lotteries
became important following assuming confusion over the issue of lotteries by
the telecom service providers.
NCC,
he said, insisted that the National Lottery Regulatory Commission has the
powers to regulate lotteries by the service providers as well as sanction any
operator who defaults on any issues related to lotteries in the country.
He
quoted the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr. Eugene Juwah who spoke at
the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), between the Commission and
NLRC, as saying that the Commission is only responsible for regulating the
services and infrastructure provisioning of the operators but does not regulate
lotteries.
Juwah
also said NCC is concerned where such lotteries degrade the quality of service
as the Commission would not sit by and allow operators degrade quality of
service beyond the performance indicators given to them.
“It
is the lottery Commission that would say whether an activity is a lottery, who
has to pay what, how much to pay to a winner. And the operators need to know
that the lottery Commission does not need our approval to enforce their laws
against any operator who defaults in the practice of lottery,” he said.
In
his remarks, Director General, NLRC, Mr. Peter Igho, commended the Commission
for the revolution it has brought in the industry, adding that the MoU is part
of the efforts to partner with respective stakeholders to ensure that a viable
industry is built on bedrock of good practices.
He
further said that lottery players have invested big sums of money and materials
to grow the laudable business and that the mobile lottery or sms lottery which
the mobile phone has made possible is a welcome development that should support
the mainstream lottery.
“But
unfortunately, some who have used this mechanism have done so with a lack of
integrity and transparency that has given lottery a bad name,” he said.
As
said by him, though, lottery has been used over the ages worldwide, not only to
empower people but also to raise money to support government in providing infrastructure
and other good causes.
Mr.
Igho, therefore, advised phone users to differentiate between promos which are
mere incentives given to subscribers, and lottery which is game of chance where
people are advised to enter based on some form of payments or deductions after
which a draw takes place where a winner is selected by chance.
He
equally explained that when the rules are followed, the NLRC ensures that the
winners get the exact thing promised by the lottery operator and that the
operators also pay appropriate fees and deductions to the government in such
way funds realized will be used for social and infrastructure development and
not for profiteering by the operating company.
Muoka,
emphasized that the introduction to the MoU stated that one of the essence of
the agreement was to avoid regulatory overlaps and create regulatory certainty
for the benefit of all stakeholders in the telecommunications and lottery
sector, as the parties recognize a need for cooperation in the discharge of
their functions as it relates to the issue of lottery and consumer protection
in the telecommunications sector.
Remmy Nweke
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