- FG Makes N6bn From Lottery in Five Years
The Federal Government has raked in N6bn from lottery proceeds in the last five years, the National Lottery Regulatory Commission has said.
The Director-General, NLRC, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, disclosed this in Abuja during the public presentation of the winner of the Nigerian Jackpot of Plenty Million National Lottery, Mr. Anthony Akoma.
“This commission has earned over N6bn for the Federal Government in the last five years from lottery proceeds,” the DG said.
He stated that the Federal Government was already spending over N1bn out of the proceeds to procure sports equipment for use in four primary schools in each of the 774 local government areas in the country.
He added that 28 states had already been covered in the project, noting that the proceeds were being kept with the Lottery Trust Funds under the supervision of the Presidency.
He said, “In every licence in the lottery scheme, the proceeds are shared, government takes 20 per cent and put into the development of infrastructure like schools, hospitals, roads and sports and this goes along to improve the economy of the country.
“So far, out of the over N6bn we earned, as much as N1bn was approved by the last administration for the purchase of sports equipment to four primary schools each in the 774 Local Government across the country; the process is ongoing and we have finished with 28 states and we are going over to others.
Represented at the event by the Assistant-Director, Regulatory and Monitoring Department of the commission, Mr. Yagba Tsav, the DG described lottery as a venture created by the government to create wealth by ensuring that the poor were taken care of.
In his remarks, the representative of AG&H Integrated Concepts, a licensed lottery operator and promoter of the winner, Mr. Thompson Eja, described the event as the biggest jackpot winning lottery in Nigeria.
