Senate Moves to generate more Revenue from Gambling 

A bill seeking to increase revenue to the National purse from Lottery scaled through second reading in the Senate.

The sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye when passed into law will strengthen the lottery sector of the economy through the amendment of the National Lottery Act 2005.

The bill for the amendment of the Act was sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye (APC, Kogi West).

Moving the motion, Melaye said lottery has the capacity to generate revenue as much as crude oil.

He said due to the massive corruption in the lottery sector, the Federal government was not generating enough revenue in the sector.

” The era whereby an investor will generate N50bn from lottery in the country and remit only 5 percent to the government is gone, “he said.

Contributing to the debate, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said the potentials of the lottery sector was being underestimated.

”  This is one of our major contributions to enhance the revenue base in the era  of revenue crunch,”he said.

Also contributing, the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume said he supported the bill for the generation of more revenue for the government.

” Ordinarily, if one is not associated to lottery and gambling, he will not know what is happening there. If more revenue will be paid to government, I support the bill, “he said.

In his remarks, the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said government can generate N350billion annually from the lottery sector.

” We are looking for funds in order to provide necessary infrastructures for the populace. We have underestimated the kind of revenue in the sector. It is estimated that government can generate N350billion annually from the sector, “he said.

He referred the bill to the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports for further legislation. The committee was given four weeks to report back.

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