See why House of Rep wants to shut down lottery operators

-House committee condemns failure of lottery operators to pay tax.

-The committee has threatened to withdraw licenses of affected operators.

House of rep engages lottery operators on better operations.

Members of the House of Representatives have threatened to withdraw the licences of 18 lottery operators in the country over their failure to pay relevant taxes and fees to the government.

Suleiman Hussaini Kangiwa (APC, Kebbi), who chairs the House committee on governmental affairs, vowed to turn around the current situation where lottery operators make millions of naira but fail in their financial responsibilities to the government.

He stated this in a meeting of his committee with the management of the Nigeria Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) and some of the operators in Abuja on Wednesday.

Kangiwa also decried the failure of several operators who refused to attend the meeting, threatening to issue a warrant of arrest against them.

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“We’re very much aware of the 21 licensed operators in Nigeria, but only two or three remitting something to the government. It’s very unfortunate.

“Nigerians and this committee are disappointed in you, because after getting licence and money, you don’t give the government anything”, he said.

The committee also requested that all the operators should provide their approved licences; evidence of all fees paid to the commission from 2000-2017; evidence of remittances to the lottery fund for the same period; valid office and business addresses; nature and the type businesses they do, among others.

In their response, operators of the lottery programmes, lamented multiple taxation between the federal and state governments coupled with low revenue, among others as their major challenge.