Lagos State Government has read riot act to illegal lottery operators in the state to put an end to their activities, adding that government will not hesitate to bring such individuals to book.
General Manager and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Lagos State Lotteries Board, Lanre Gbajabiamila said this at the 2013 Stakeholders Summit themed: The Gaming Business: Expanding the Reach and Generational Imperatives, held at the Protea Hotel, Ikeja.
Gbajabiamila said all operators of lottery and gaming willing to do business in the state must register with the lottery board in order to legalise their operations as government’s intention is to make the environment conducive for them to do their businesses.
“There is no hiding place for illegal lottery operators. They should come to the board to legalise their operations. We need to work hand in hand with them and we need to get the illegal operators out of businesses,” he stated.
Also, the Special Adviser to the
governor on Taxation and Revenue, Bola Shodipo said lots of potentials abound in the gaming industry waiting to be harnessed, saying that during the last Olympic held in London, millions of pounds were made through gaming.
“There are lots of revenue accruable in the industry, but today in Nigeria, we are still scratching it in the head, it is an employment generation industry and it gives money to the government in form of taxes. It is a billion naira spinning industry.
“The industry is not alien to us; it is just that we are not organised. There are lots of money in this business. What we are doing here today is to jaw-jaw and learn from people that have the wealth of experience and see how we can put them together for the benefit of all.
“Everyone has a tendency to do whatever he or she wants if there is no law. The best thing to do is to create enabling law to regulate the industry which we have done. We have created an agency to be responsible for this and the agency is the lottery board. We need to benchmark ourselves with the greatest operators in the industry,” he said.
According to him, if lottery operators fail to operate under the set laws by the state, government would have no choice than to clamp down on them, adding that “we may even suspend, revoke license or prosecute them.”
On his part, the guest speaker and managing director, Turfsport, South Africa, Gail Petrie said operators must seek to understand the workings of the industry properly, adding that people must operate with proper business principles that enhanced transparency.