NCC, NLRC collaborate to fight illicit gamers

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) are collaborating to stop unapproved lottery and gaming practices on telecommunications platforms through information and intelligence sharing.

The two regulators signed a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta said will impact the gaming industry. He said it was in sync with the Commission’s Strategic Vision Plan (SVP), adding that it was in a bid to promote fair practices in the industry for the protection of telecoms consumers in relation to lottery and gaming activities.

He said the collaboration is in line with the provisions of Commission’s SVP 2021-2025, which provides for facilitation of strategic partnership and collaboration with other bodies to enhance service delivery.

“The initial MoU expired in 2022, amendments and modifications have been made since no MoU is cast in stone, especially given the industry’s dynamic nature,” he said.

The Director-General, NLRC, Mr Lanre Gbajabiamila, expressed confidence that the MoU will yield favourable outcomes in curbing illegal online gambling as he expressed hope that NCC and NLRC will achieve their intentions in the interest of gaming stakeholders.

He noted how unapproved lottery and gaming activities and practices undermine the integrity of domestic and global gaming markets to the detriment of stakeholders in addition to undermining consumer confidence in these markets, hence the collaboration with the Commission to arrest such tendencies.

The Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Mr. Adeleke Adewolu, said the MoU was designed to address recent technology information-sharing capabilities and consumer satisfaction and to enhance areas of co-regulation in line with the Federal Government’s digital economy mandate.

The new MoU replaces the one that was first signed by both organisations, which expired last year. It provides complementary approaches to deter unapproved lottery/gaming practices on telecommunications platforms through information and intelligence sharing in recognition of how unapproved lottery and gaming activities and practices undermine the integrity of domestic and global gaming markets to the detriment of stakeholders in addition to undermining consumer confidence in these markets.

Under the agreement, following requests from NLRC, NCC shall endeavour to block or disable illegal lottery gaming operators on the telecommunications service providers’ platform in Nigeria and NLRC

The document was developed by a Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) comprising representatives of NCC and NLRC to implement the MoU and other matters that promote collaboration between both organisations in their regulatory functions.