Senate threatens to seal off Bet9ja over refusal to honour its invitation

Senate Committee on Youth and Sports on Tuesday threatened to shut down the Bet9ja office over its failure to honour an invitation by the committee.

The committee had invited the company for the verification of lotto companies with license to operate in Nigeria.

Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Obinna Ogba (PDP Ebonyi Central) said it was unfortunate that Bet9ja refused to honour the committee’s invitation.

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“Clerk, write to Bet9ja again. If they do not honour our invitation, we will ask the National Lottery Commission to seal their offices,” he said.

He said the Senate is making efforts aimed at assisting the Lottery Commission to generate money for the Federal Government.

The chairman explained that the verification followed series of complaints against the betting companies, adding that “some don’t even have offices while others have not been making remittances to the government.”

”Some got the licences but they are not operating. The new regulation only give them one year to start operations,” he noted.

About 20 lottery companies appeared before the committee on Tuesday.

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