EFCC aides National Lottery Commission to Recover unremitted funds, DG, NLRC expresses Gratitude
The Director General, National Lottery Commission, NLRC, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila during a courtesy visit to the Executive Chairman of the EFCC, Mr. Ola Olukoyede with his management team commended the EFCC for its assistance and collaboration with the NLRC in the recovery of its unremitted funds.
While thanking the Commission for the assistance in the recovery of lottery funds, he noted “we have reached some goals but I will say without the Commission, we wouldn’t have made some recoveries. So, having said that, we need to bring some matters to the Chairman and the Commission and the most important one is the MOU that we had with the EFCC which dated back to 2015 and due to the passage of time and the current realities in the lottery industry, there is the need to review the provisions of this MOU”.
According to him a review of the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, between the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, and his Commission, will enable the National Lottery Commission, NLRC, keep pace with realities in the gaming industry across the world.
He disclosed that the NLRC is collaborating with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit, NFIU and Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA in order to monitor and tackle terrorism financing and money laundering and other fraudulent financial activities, within the game industry.
Additionally, the NLRC Director General stated that operators in the lottery industry urgently needed enhanced training by officers of the Special Control Unit against Money Laundering, SCUML so as to be acquainted with extant rules and regulations relevant to the lottery industry.
Responding, Olukoyede, appreciated the visit and commended the NLRC for adhering to rules and regulations governing the lottery industry.
He assured the delegation of the Commission’s readiness to review the MOU existing between the two agencies. According to Olukoyede
“Yes, we have listened to your presentation and I agreed with you that there’s the need for us to review the existing MOU, with respect to some contemporary issues especially changes in laws and regulatory requirements
He explained that with the NLRC as a regulator and the EFCC as an enforcement agency, collaboration would help to sanitize the gaming industry.’