Commission seals off Nestle office in Ilorin
The National Lottery Regulatory Commission has sealed off Nestle Nigeria Plc premises in Ilorin.
The agency's team and policemen led by the Deputy Director, Enforcement and Compliance, NLRC, Mr. Emmanuel Jeminiwa, spent over one hour on Thursday to ensure that one of Nestle's representatives signed a document during the exercise.
Jeminiwa said the commission's Director-General, Mr. Peter Igho, had warned companies and other establishments not to violate lottery regulations.
Jeminiwa said, "The National Lottery Regulatory Commission which is the only agency of the Federal Government regulating lottery business in Nigeria discovered that Nestle Nigeria Plc ran a lottery promo and held a draw on April 10 in Ilorin.
"Unfortunately, this lottery programme was not regularised by the commission. It has made government to lose revenue because there was no remittance to the government."
He stated that 20 per cent of the contributions of any lottery were for the National Lottery Trust Fund, saying that Nestle did not comply with the directive.
"That is why the Director-General directed that we should seal off the place. It is not longer business as usual," he said.
Jeminiwa said lottery business in Nigeria must be transparent and credible.
He added that the abuses that characterised lottery business in the country must be corrected.
Jeminiwa said, "So we have come to this place as a result of the violation Nestle Nig Plc had committed. They ran a promo without regularisation. It is in the interest of every lottery agency in Nigerian to regularise their operations.
"We do not want to seal off business places but all lottery business in Nigeria must be regularised. The moment people start defaulting, we will seal off the place," he said.
Nestle's Regional Manager, Sales, Mr. Adedeji Adedipe, declined comments when journalists sought his response.
Assistant Director, Media/Public Affairs, NLRC, Rekiya Attah, said the agency was concerned with lottery activities and not mere promotional activities of companies like 'Buy One Get One Free.'
She added that there was a difference between a lottery and a company's products' promotion.
Attah said, "The difference between a lottery and a promo is this: In United Kingdom, there is BOGOF. That is promotional. We do not quarrel with it. But where there are tickets, a raffle draw and a winner will emerge, that is lottery activity.
"Since tickets are involved, we need to have records of how many tickets were bought and to make sure that the process of the draw is transparent. A certain percentage of the people involved in lottery must get something. Promo is just strictly 'buy one get something or one free,' but when it is said 'buy something, the more you buy, the more tickets you get, it is lottery,'" Attah said.
Cloud Tag: What's trending
Click on a word/phrase to read more about it.
Saka Saadu Muslimah Entrepreneurship Forum Razaq Ayobami Akanbi Salman Suleiman Hameed Oladipupo Ali Saliu Shola Taofeek Shuaibu Yaman Saad Omo\'ya AGM Professional Services Emir Of Shonga Lanre Issa-Onilu Abdulraheem Olesin Adesoye Salman Alada Jaiz Bank State Bureau Of Internal Revenue Salman Jawondo Oasis Muslim Care Foundation Yoonus Lawal TIIDELab Bayo Onimago Wasiu Onidugbe Tinubu Suleiman Rotimi Iliasu Moshood Mustapha Iqra Books Alimi Kwara 2023 Volunteers Of Ilorin Community And The Emirate Yahaya Abdulkareem Babaita Olatunji Abdulmumeen Ilorin Emirate Stakeholders Forum Oja-Oba Cassava Growers\' Association Abdulkadir Remi Hawawu Abdulganiy Abimbola Abdussalam Yahaya Muhammad Muhammad Yahya Asa Musa Ayinla Yeketi Aasiyat Bello Oyedepo Women For Change And Development Initiative Eleyele Ilorin Talaka Parapo (ITP) Samuel Olusegun Adedayo Afolabi-Oshatimehin Adenike Harriet Federal College Of Education (Special), Afon Yomi Adeboye Adamu Ibrahim Sabi Federal Allocation Najim Yaasin AbdulFatai Adeniyi Dan-Kazeem Kwara Basketball Association Onilu Kolawole Bashirat Kwara State Branch Of The National Library Sa\'adu Salau Labaeka Arandun Aminu Ado Bayero Sulyman Abdulkareem Aisha Abodunrin Ibrahim Ibrahim Kayode Adeyemi Ahmed Alhasssan Hassan A. Saliu Erin-ile Olatinwo College Of Arabic And Islamic Legal Studies Nigeria Computer Society Gbadeyan Gbadura Yomi COVID Orire Computer Based Test MINILS Oro Grammar School Old Students Association Abubakar Ndakene Abdullahi Saadudeen Alikinla

