The Federal Government says it lost billions of Naira from 2015 till date due to unpaid revenue from lottery operators in Nigeria.
George Akume, Minister of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs said this on Tuesday.
He spoke while inaugurating an 11-man ministerial taskforce committee for the recovery of the funds.
NAN reports that the committee is chaired by Williams Alo, Permanent Secretary in the ministry.
Members are Lanre Gbajabiamila, Director-General, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Bello Maigari, and Okechukwu Odunna.
Others are Stella Maduka, Okunade Sarah, Simon Tyungu, Jude Ughwujabo, and representatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Nigeria Police.
The Minister recalled that he consulted widely with industry stakeholders but was unsatisfied with findings of lottery operations.
“It is clear that historic revenues collections from lottery and gaming transactions have underperformed resulting in significant losses to the government.
“In spite of my earlier appeal for an increased effort by operators to pay what they owe, statutory returns continue to be poor or nonexistent,“ Akume said.
