Sports betting is growing at an astronomical rate in Nigeria, but, largely unregulated, it is bringing no monies into Federal Government coffers despite laws that would allow it to collect them.
The Nigerian newspaper Leadership published an investigative report last week that showed that the government has been losing “huge sums of money” because the agency supposedly responsible for regulating sports betting claims that it is not its job.
It quotes Chicka Okeke, a Nigerian blogger who wrote: “While operators smile to the bank, the government has been losing huge revenue from this goldmine.”
Sports betting is growing rapidly, with vendors all over the country, largely appealing to the country’s young people, a large percentage of whom are unemployed.
Nigeria’s major cities, such as Lagos, Port Harcourt and Aba, have an estimated 3,000 retail lottery terminals that offer sports betting in shops, through mobile phones and through the internet, and also have unlicensed slot machines,
The top Nigerian online sports betting Website is called Nairabet, which has an estimated 100,000 customers. Other popular platforms include Winners Golden Bet and Merrybet.
The law requires that 20 percent of the proceeds and the value of the prizes be paid to the National Lottery Trust Fund. The 2005 act which established the National Lottery Regulatory commission (NLRC) put it in charge of lotteries in the country and gives it the power to “grant license to any person or body corporate to operate a national lottery or any lottery…” This, says critics of the commission, includes sports betting.
The law states “All companies presently operating the business of sports lottery (betting) and prospective companies are expected to obtain a Sports Lottery Permit (SLP) from the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC).”
Despite having a legislative mandate to regulate sports betting, Adolphus Joe Ekpe, director general of the NLRC recently stated that his agency does not have the authority to regulate sports betting, gambling or casinos. He insists that the individual states have rules that give the job to them, despite the fact that the NLRC website lists sports betting as one of the lottery categories under its jurisdiction.
Leadership asked Ekpe to confirm that federal law gives his agency the authority to regulate sports betting. He replied, “I cannot talk on behalf of the Federal Government and I’m not a spokesperson for the Federal Government. I work for the Lottery Commission which is governed by National Lottery Act of 2005.” According to Ekpe the agency has not convicted any illegal operations since it was created.
Sports betting operators in Nigeria are typically open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It has been growing very rapidly in recent years, completely overshadowing older, traditional forms of gaming such as pool betting and casino centers with slot machines, which local residents call kalokalo.
Pool betting was usually confined to older people or people who hoped to lift themselves out of poverty with a lucky killing using their last reserves. Now sports betting is filling that niche.
As the country entered the 21st century sports betting was increasingly dominant. Because they are largely unregulated and untaxed, except by local government, often minors are allowed to bet. The law bans anyone under 18 from participating but there is little enforcement.
The most popular sport to bet on is football (called soccer in the U.S.), but basketball, tennis, cricket, and almost any league sport played anywhere in the world, is the subject of bets.
Besides serving minors, avoiding taxes and stepping aside any regulations, sports betting centers often circulate counterfeit currency and fake foreign currency by offering it as prize money to gullible consumers.
Local gangsters, who are sent signals when the winners of jackpots show up to claim their prizes, often prey on winners.
