The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) have jointly set up a committee to work towards the protection of the interest of telecom consumers against malpractices that may attend mobile lotteries in the country.
The committee was tasked with the responsibility of articulating measures to address mutual regulatory issues, including the review of revenue-sharing formula between Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and lottery operators.
Speaking at the committee’s inauguration meeting, the NCC’s Executive Commissioner, Stakeholder Management (ECSM), Barr. Adeleke Adewolu, who presided over the meeting which also had in attendance senior staff of the two agencies, recalled previous engagements between the agencies and said that the committee was important in order to review and update an NCC-NLRC Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which was signed on the 6th of August 2018 but has now expired.
The Executive Commissioner restated the commission’s commitment to regulatory collaboration and strategic partnerships and that this had made it to carefully considered the NLRC’s requests since it was convinced that both organisations can conclusively address issues and other concerns that had been identified in the operation of lotteries in the telecom industry.
On the two agencies’ expectations from the committee, he said: “We expect that the Joint Committee of senior members of staff in both organisations will work closely to develop a collaborative framework to progressively improve gaming service delivery for telecoms consumers and further accelerate holistic development in Nigeria’s digital economy.”
Adewolu also reiterated that the Committee is expected to articulate a new MoU to address issues around revenue sharing between MNOs and lottery operators, the need to review and recommend a workable model for addressing the needs of both organisations, and present informed recommendations to deepen regulatory collaboration between the two regulatory agencies.
According to him, given the strong professional pedigree of the members of this Joint Committee, he has no doubt that they will meet and even exceed the expectations of the managements of both the NCC and the NLRC.
Speaking at the meeting, the NLRC’s Director, Legal Services, Barr. Olayemi Ajayi, who represented the commission’s Director-General, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, expressed her organisation’s commitment to improving revenue generation from the lottery industry and commended the NCC’s management for being receptive to inter-organisational collaborations.
Ajayi canvassed the need for renewal of the expired MoU with amendments to accommodate new provisions that will be favourable to stakeholders and fast-track the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.
The Director promised: “The NLRC is working tirelessly to ameliorate its functions and service delivery to stakeholders. Therefore, this renewed collaboration with NCC will help for better and efficient service delivery by both agencies.”
