Unpaid N186m Winnings: Lawyer Demands Lottery Commission’s Report

Rebecca Ejifoma

A lawyer, Victor Emerson, has requested the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) to issue its findings on a petition alleging an unpaid sport bet winning of over N186 million.

According to Emerson, “The commission has refused to carry out its obligations as a regulatory compliance body set up to protect the interest of all lottery players and winners by ensuring they are paid what is due to them.”

Emerson’s clients, Cephas Esemeka, Goodluck Solomon, and Uloeze Odum, have claimed to have won N186million after placing sport bets with BetBonanza.

In a letter issued on September 13, 2021, the lawyer said a meeting brokered on May 27, 2021, by the commission between his clients and BetBonanza failed to resolve the issue.

He lamented that despite informing the NLRC of the state of affairs in a letter on June 10, 2021, the commission failed to act.

Emerson also alleged that BetBonanza was not interested in settling the matter amicably, hence, he urged the NLRC to step in and act on his clients’ previous petitions.

He emphasised: “For the records, our petition has been pending before the commission since February, and it is regrettable to see that it has not been resolved after seven months by the commission.

“Our clients have become restive and are very distressed by this state of affairs, and have instructed us to request that the commission bring our petition to its logical conclusion by issuing its report and recommendations.”

He, therefore, “humbly requests that the commission does the needful and issue its report on our petition so that we can move on in respect of our claim against BetBonanza.”

In the petitions, Emerson’s clients narrated that they went to the betting agent in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to cash out their reward but were informed that BetBonanza withdrew the funds already credited to the agent for their payment.

BetBonanza further informed the petitioners that the payments were withdrawn because the games were allegedly fixed despite the fact that they placed bets on the same games with another company and redeemed their winning.

Through its lawyers, Babajimi Ayorinde and Oladimeji Sarumi, the betting company in a March 8, 2021, response to the petitioners’ demand letter, said they were not entitled to the winnings.

They alleged that the winners breached BetBonanza terms and conditions among other infractions.