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An Abuja-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), Global Integrity Crusade Network (GICN), has urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Minister of Special Duties & Intergovernmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, not to shield from investigation the leadership of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC), and some of its top officials over allegations corruption and abuse of office.
The group, in a statement signed by its Director in-charge of Welfare and Logistics, Mr. Akumabi Ojogbane, said it was regrettable that in spite of the several petitions over allegations of corruption against the leadership, “the boss was still being kept in office and protected by some powerful Nigerians”.
It recalled that through a petition dated July 6, 2020, which was addressed to Senator Akume, EFCC and other relevant bodies, it highlighted some of the allegations against the leadership of NLRC but that nothing much has been done to correct the situation.
The group alleged that its scrutiny of the books of NLRC in 2020 revealed how over millions of naira was said to have been withdrawn from the commission using some staff.
The group wondered why an appointee of the President would allegedly “flout with impunity the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy of the Federal Government without being cautioned”. The group faulted the claim of increased revenue performance at the NLRC, saying that the lottery and sports betting industry was allegedly doing far below its huge potential compared with smaller African nations.
It added that “Nigerians are waiting to see whether the weighty allegations against the NLRC will be swept under the carpet. We were all in this country when the likes of Ms. Hadiza Bala-Usman and Mr. Adebayo Somefun were suspended indefinitely as the Chief Executive Officers of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) over corruption allegations”.
