The National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) was established through the National Lottery Act of 2005. The Commission was primarily born out of the need to regulate the operations of lottery business, promote transparency and accountability in lottery; and protect the interests of players, stockholders and the general public.
Though founded in 2005, the NLRC was scarcely known until 2009 when media specialist, Mr. Peter Igho, MFR took up the mantle of leadership of the commission. His first assignment was to tackle the accommodation problem that the commission faced. Prior to Igho's appointment as Director General, the NLRC was sitting on some small space on the 5th floor, Block C, Phase II of the Federal Secretariat, Abuja. Now the Commission spaciously occupies the 1st and 4th floors of the Merit House, Maitama Abuja. In 2013, the commission successfully moved into a bigger and much more accommodating office space in jabi district where it occupies a 2 story build office complex and is now headed by the newly appointed DG Mr. Adolphus Joe Ekpe, who was the stock exchange guru who was a principal officer responsible for the automation of the activities and workflow of the Nigerian Stock Exchange in Port-Harcourt.
Before now, the general feeling was that lottery was not different from ordinary gambling. Mr Igho faced the burdensome task of selling the lottery business and the Lottery commission to the generality of Nigerians. At many occasions he attended, he made positive pronouncements about lottery and the mandate of the Commission.
The DG scored a big goal during his visit to the DG, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Mr. Nuhu Yusuf in September, 2009, when it was announced that thenceforth, any promotion advertisement that does not carry the seal of the regulatory commission would no more be carried/aired by FRCN.
The then Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili equally assured the Commission of her support as the sanitisation of the lottery industry tallies with the re-branding campaign of her ministry in particular and the present administration in general.
Similarly, the Consumer protection Council (CPC) promised to help. The Council’s DG, Mrs. Ify Umenyi promised to work towards making promoters cooperate with the Lottery Commission or be made to face the law.
When the message was taken to the top echelons of the police, the then Inspector General of Police Mr. Ogbonnaya Onovo said Police were ready to arrest and prosecute any company that was found to have indulged in fraudulent promotions. These and many more achievements Igho has recorded so far. As the commission take a new leadership, it is obvious that the heights and economic growth which the commission will attain through the ingenious of the new DG Mr. Adolphus Joe Ekpe is undeniable owing to his past and record breaking achievements through ICT automation which is his priority in the commission.
Being a relatively new body NLRC faces numerous problems including shortage of staff, shortage of operational vehicles and zero budgetary allocation even though that is being taken care of as the Commission has been granted a self-accounting status. More so, the Commission has not yet opened its offices in the various states of the federation. It relies on its headquarters staff to carry out duties in all the 36 states of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).