”We want to see bet9ja. They can’t run away,” he said.
The Senate Committee on Youth and Sports on Tuesday threatened to order the shutdown of Bet9ja office if the company failed to honour its invitation for a second time.
Speaking on the floor of the house during the verification of loto companies with license to operate in Nigeria, Sen. Obinna Ogba (PDP, Ebonyi), Chairman of the Committee, said it was unfortunate that Bet9ja refused to honour the committee’s invitation.
He instructed the clerk of the house to write the popular betting site again, threatening that failure to honour the House’s invitation for the third time will earn the betting site permanent closure.
“Clerk, write to Bet9ja again. If they did not honour our invitation, we will ask the National Lottery Commission to seal their offices,” he said.
According to him, the Senate is making efforts aimed at assisting the Lottery Commission to generate money for the Federal Government.
”We want to see bet9ja. They can’t run away,” he said.
The chairman explained that the verification followed series of complaints against the betting companies, adding that ”some don’t even have offices while others have not been making remittances to the government.”
”Some got the licences but they are not operating. The new regulation only give them one year to start operations,” he noted.
Meanwhile, about 20 other betting companies appeared before the committee for the verification exercise.
