The Federal Capital Territory Lottery Regulatory Office (FCT-LRO) in Abuja has begun operations as the gaming regulator for the territory. It has given operators that held licences from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) seven days to start moving to an FCT licence.
The office published a public notice on 11 November. It was signed by its Director-General, Lanre Gbajabiamila. The notice says operators in the FCT must follow FCT licensing rules and deal with the FCT-LRO on regulatory matters.
The office bases its position on a Supreme Court ruling in a case between Lagos State and the federal government, and on Section 299 of the Constitution. It says the ruling did not give any one state control over online gaming. Operators may choose their licensing regulator, it says, and no state regulator may pressure an operator for choosing another one. It also says an online platform is not exempt from licensing rules.
Operators that hold NLRC licences and work, or plan to work, in the FCT must approach the FCT-LRO. Licences that have not expired will be recognised for the rest of their term and converted to FCT licences. Operators must hand over their NLRC licences for checking, finish the process and get an FCT gaming licence. The notice says they must begin within seven days of its publication.
The notice also lists operators the office recognises as licensed in the FCT, in four groups: casino, sports betting, lotto and interactive gaming. It asks the public to check an operator's licence before using it. Reports on the lists do not agree on the number of operators in each group, so we have not given counts. The notice sets no penalties.
The office gave an address at 2B Embu Crescent in Wuse 2, Abuja, and the email info@lro.abj.gov.ng for operators.
The notice adds to the question of who licenses online betting in Nigeria. Our report on who regulates betting in Nigeria explains how federal and state bodies overlap. Suppliers can also read about the state rules for iGaming suppliers.
We have read the notice as reported by two news sites. We have not seen the original document on an official site. We will update this report if the FCT-LRO publishes it or sets a further deadline.
