The Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, has begun moves to curb illegal online gambling and gaming practices by signing a revised Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC.
The commission said in a statement by its Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, that the MoU has provisions to deter unapproved lottery and gaming practices on telecommunications platforms through information and intelligence sharing.
The statement quoted the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof Umar Danbatta, that the MoU, will impact the gaming industry, and is in sync with the commission’s strategic vision plan, SVP, 2021-2015 which provides for facilitation of strategic partnership and collaboration with other bodies to enhance service delivery.
Danbatta added that the move was is in a bid to promote fair practices in the industry for the protection of telecommunications consumers in relation to lottery and gaming activities.
He explained, “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.”
Also speaking, the Director General of National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, Mr Lanre Gbajabiamila, expressed confidence that the MoU will yield favourable outcomes in curbing illegal online gambling as he shared his hope that NCC and NLRC will achieve their intentions in the interest of gaming stakeholders.
Gbajabiamila 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.
Earlier, the Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management, Barrister Adeleke Adewolu disclosed that 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 one that was first signed by both organizations, which expired in 2022. 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.
