Sunday Ani
The Lagos State House of Assembly, yesterday, held a public hearing on a bill to consolidate all laws on lotteries and gaming in the state at the Assembly Pavilion, Ikeja.
The bill tagged, “Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority Bill, 2020,” when passed into law, would establish an agency that will coordinate all gaming activities in Lagos State.
The bill states that before a license is granted for lottery, pool or betting operation, the Authority shall be satisfied that the operator is a registered company in Nigeria, with a minimum share capital amounting to N20 million or as may be directed by the Authority.
It also specified that the local content shareholder shall abide by the regulations, policies, terms and conditions issued by the Authority.
The new law when it comes on stream will equally will consolidate all the laws in the sector, as well as repeal such existing laws as the Lagos State Lotteries (Amendment) Law 2008, the Lagos State Lotteries Law (2004), the Casino and Gaming Regulatory Authority Law (2007), Casino and Gaming Regulations (2007), Pools Betting Control Law (2003) and Pools Betting Tax Law (2003).
In his keynote address, the Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa, represented by his deputy, Wasiu Sanni-Eshinlokun said a good legislature must accommodate the interest of the majority, as well as align itself with the citizens’ views. This, according to him, underscores the importance of the public hearing.
He stated that the worldwide projected revenue from lotteries this is about $200 billion that about 60 million Nigerians are expected to be active players in the industry this year alone.
Noting that the addictive nature of the business calls for caution, the Speaker stressed the need to amend the 2008 lottery law, so as to eliminate any form of manipulation since the bulk of the game would be done on mobile gadgets.
While reviewing the Bill, the Majority Leader of the House, S.O.B Agunbiade, emphasised that the Bill, which has 109 Sections with three regulations, was meant to establish Lagos State Lottery and Gaming Authority and regulate all gaming activities and other connected purposes.
Also describing the Bill as timely, the state Commissioner for Finance, Dr. Rabiu Olowo, that a lot has changed in the Nigerian gaming sector in the last 10 years, and that most of the people involved were youths.
He urged stakeholders to take the public hearing seriously by making useful contribution. He said: “The gaming industry has continued to expand due to youthful population in Lagos. The future of gaming in Nigeria is bright and Lagos will benefit a lot from it. The regulations are very robust. The Bill also addresses cyber security and the concerns of many people. I want to urge all stakeholders to take it serious,” he said.
Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Rotimi Olowo, said in an interview with Assembly Correspondents that he was moved by the response of the stakeholders and the operators, who attended the event.
Olowo, representing Shomolu Constituency 1, added that the bill was meant to consolidate gaming and virtual lottery in the state. “We have different licenses for individual products in the sector. The people have ventilated their opinions and we will work on them. The law is not meant for the operators alone, it is also meant for the regulators; we will look into all the areas.
“They are talking about service charge of three percent, which they said is small, but the sector is huge. We are not talking about digging into their data, but they should give us correct data,” he said.
The lawmaker said the Bill would help the state to gather enough money, which would be used in the health sector, environment and even sports sector.
Olowo further said the money would not go into the consolidated fund of the state, but would be channeled to take care of the welfare of the citizenry.
He explained that the state wanted a law that would consolidate all the laws in the sector. “It has about 109 sections and each of the section is not talking about the same thing; some talk about lottery, gaming and others. We want to have all the laws in one place, so we will look at their positions and work on it
“The issue of N20million would be looked into by the regulators. We would look at the socioeconomic reality and allow sanity into that sector. Some funny guys who are into ‘yahoo’ come into the business, others are involved in money laundering. Many Nigerians want to come into the sector, but they don’t have the wherewithal.
“So, we will not protect foreigners to the detriment of Nigerians. We can reduce the percentage, not that somebody who has the money will just come into it and we will allow Nigerians to suffer,” he said.
He explained that the state would be going into virtual gaming and that this has a lot of potentials for the people of Lagos, adding that they would make sure that this didn’t deter investors or discourage the residents of the state.
He said the Lagos Lottery Board was building a fire station in Apapa, which would be replicated in other parts of the state, even as he promised that the money they realised would be judiciously spent.
During comments and response session from the stakeholders, the representative of Lagos Pool Promoters, Mr. Adebagun Nojeem requested that the stakeholders in the gaming sector should be involved in the State Lottery Board and that the issue of N20million share capital should be looked into.
“Pool is a game for the senior citizens, and with the new capital base of N20 million, we may go under. The 10 percent charges on sales should be reduced to about 2.5 percent. Penalty of N2.5million should be reduced to N1million or N500,000. The issue of imprisonment should also be removed,” he said.
In his contribution, a stakeholder from the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mr. Tokunbo Akande suggested that the term licensing fees or royalties should be used in the bill instead of taxes, to avoid multiple taxations. He also advised that there should be room for dispute resolutions in the bill.
On his part, Mr. Niyi Adekunle from Grand Lotto lamented that the first license fee for lottery issued in 2008 for N200million was very huge and still remains huge. He pleaded that the fee should be reduced in the upcoming law. He added that a lot of people that applied for licenses are dead and gone, and that the license should be changed to reflect the universal license.
“A lot of people are restricted to just one form of lottery. The Lottery Board should be focused on the spending of lottery. People might do lottery not just for winning, but for some other activities. For instance, we could say the money spent on buying lottery ticket is for research on COVID-19.
“The issue of licensing staff before they join lottery should also be looked into. Lottery is still a industry laced with cultural and religious biases. A lot of people can’t be bold before their parents to say they work in a lottery company or that they play lottery,” he said.
Mr. Chima Onwuka from the Nigerian Licensed Lottery Operators want the issue of multiple taxation and levies to be addressed in the new law, as investors and operators are in the business to make profit.
Other stakeholders who contributed during the public hearing include Mr. Oyeniyi Emmanuel, Clemenet Okoli and another person who represented BetNaija.
While Emmanuel called for a parallel platform for dispute resolutions, Okoli advised that the House Committee could relate with the regulators and key operators for inputs before the bill is passed into law.
Emmanuel kicked against the idea of licensing separately every product in sports betting, stressing that one license should cover the whole business. He also tasked the lawmakers on the need to relate with industry experts before the bill is passed into law.
In his vote of thanks, the Clerk of the House expressed gratitude to that graced the occasion and assured them that their contributions would form the bedrock of the final document, which would be passed into law.