Some betting companies the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LSLGA) listed as unlicensed in a publication on Tuesday have valid registrations with the Federal Government, FIJ can report.

The LSLGA released a public notice on Tuesday stating that some 43 lottery and gaming platforms had no license to operate in the state and advised the gaming population to stay away from patronising them.

The statement read in part, “The attention of LSLGA has been drawn to the activities of some organisations conducting gaming operations in Lagos State without obtaining the prerequisite licenses from LSLGA and thereby in contravention of Section 33(3) of the Lagos State Lotteries and Gamine Authority Law 2021, which provides that “a person without a subsisting license or authorisation from the Authority shall not conduct or operate any gaming activity in the State.” The erring organisations/gaming operators are listed below:

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“ZEBET, BETIKA, GOBET, MSPORT, 22BET, AFRIBET, BESTBET360, BANGBET, BETWAZOBIA, NETBET, NAIRAMILLION, WESTERN LOTTO, ELLIEST LOTTO, RIDERLOTTO, PEELSLOTTO, SETLOTTO, HAMABET, KORETBET, PARIPESA, MEGABET, LIVESCOREBET, BLACKBET/BETTYBINGO, CLOUDBET, SPORTBET.IO, HALLABET, ODDSPEDIA, N1BET, NGAWIN, MILLIONAIREPOWERPLAY, LOTTOMANIA, FIRSTBET, BETXPERIENCE, GIVERAFFLE, KNOFAMBET, WAKABET, BETFARM, SCRATCH2WIN, CHOPBARH, NAIJABET, PLENTYMILLIONS, NAIRAPOWERBET, GAMESPAY, XTRAGOALSFANTASY.

“Kindly be informed that the Lagos State Government derives powers to regulate lottery and gaming from the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) as gaming activities are not included in the Exclusive Legislative List nor the Concurrent Legislative of the constitution.

“It is an item on the Residual List and exclusive to the jurisdiction of the federating states in Nigeria. This position has been established and elucidated by several judicial decisions.

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“Consequently, the public is hereby advised to desist and/or discontinues from staking/betting on the platforms of the above-listed organisations/gaming operators as they are deemed illegal and unknown to LSLGA, and their gaming activities are against the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and contravenes the provisions of the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority Law 2021 (as amended).”

FIJ has, however, found that some of the lottery and gaming companies have valid and running registrations with the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).

PLATFORMS WITH VALID REGISTRATION

S/N	PLATFORM	LICENSE VALIDITY
1	ZEBET	March 27, 2020 to March 26, 2025.
2	BETIKA	September 11, 2020 to September 10, 2025.
3	GOBET	May 14, 2022 to May 13, 2027.
4	MSPORT	December 12, 2019 to December 11, 2024.
5	22BET	September 22, 2020 to September 21, 2025.
6	BANGBET	October 14, 2020 to October 13, 2025.
7	WESTERN LOTTO LIMITED	June 4, 2015 to June 3, 2025.
8	KORET BET	March 28, 2023 to March 27, 2028.
9	PARIPESA	March 27, 2023 to March 26, 2028.
10	CLOUDBET	March 27, 2019 to 26 March 26, 2024.
11	HALLABET	August 15, 2023 to August 14, 2028.
12	N1BET	March 17, 2021 to March 16, 2026.
13	MILLIONAIRE POWERPLAY LTD	May 26, 2023 to May 25, 2033.
14	LOTTOMANIA	June 6, 2023 to June 5, 2033.
15	BETLION NOW LIVESCORE BET	March 27, 2019 to March 26, 2024

While our findings showed that 15 of the lottery platforms claimed to be unlicensed in Lagos State have valid approvals, we found no registration information of the remaining 29 platforms on the federal agency’s website.

PLATFORMS WITH NO REGISTRATION EVIDENCE

S/N	PLATFORM
1	AFRIBET
2	BESTBET
3	BETWAZOBIA
4	NETBET
5	NAIRAMILLION
6	ELLIEST LOTTO
7	RIDERLOTTO
8	PEELS LOTTO
9	SET LOTTO
10	HAMA BET
11	MEGA BET
12	SPORTBET.IO
13	ODDSPEDIA
14	NGAWIN
15	FIRSTBET
16	BETXPERIENCE
17	GIVERAFFLE
18	KONFAMBET
19	WAKABET
20	BETFARM
21	SCRATCH2WIN
22	CHOPBARH
23	NAIJABET
24	PLENTYMILLIONS
25	NAIRAPOWERBET
26	GAMESPAY
27	XTRAGOALSFANTASY
28	BESTBET360

Kemi Adebiyi, a senior legal officer at the LSLGA, who answered FIJ’s phone call for comments on this story on Wednesday, said she had no authority to speak with the media. She, however, asked this reporter to bring a letter to their office to speak with Bashir Are, the agency’s chief executive officer.

FIJ’s subsequent email to the agency on the subject had not been responded to as of the time of this publication.

REGULATORY CONFLICT

This newspaper found that there have been some unhealthy regulatory battles between the Federal Government’s National Lottery Regulatory Commission and the LSLGA, leading to lawsuits with different outcomes.

On July 19, 2023, Justice Iniekenimi Oweibo of the Federal High Court (FHC) in Lagos State ruled that the federal government, through the National Assembly, had the exclusive right to legislate and control lottery activities in the country.

Few months after the FHC judgement, a Lagos State High Court delivered another judgement holding that matters pertaining to lottery and one-chance betting were subjects under the residual list in the constitution. By this, the judge held that Lagos State had the right to regulate the sector.

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Back in 2018, a federal high court had also stripped Lagos State of lottery regulatory powers in a suit FHC/L/CS/918/17 between Western Lotto Nigeria Ltd & 8 ors and Attorney General & ors. At the time, the state government vowed to appeal the judgement.

Similar conflicts on which level of government has the right powers to police the lottery, casino and gaming industries persist in Ogun State and some other states, creating an uncomfortable environment for investors.

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated after our attention was drawn to the fact that a registered platform recently changed its name, but has not been effected on NLRC’s website.