The Senate on Wednesday passed into second reading an amendment into the National Lottery Act 2005 in order to generate more fund due to economic recession.
The Amendment, which was sponsored by Senator Dino Melaye, was titled: “A bill for an Act to Amend the National Lottery 2005 to make provision for effective operation of Lottery in Nigeria and for other related matters.”
Leading debate on the bill, Senator Melaye said the era whereby investors will generate N50 billion for lottery in the country and only remit five per cent into government coffers was gone.
He said due to the massive corruption in the lottery sector, the Federal Government was not generating enough revenue in the sector.
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,” Ekweremadu said.
Also speaking in support of the amendment, the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, said the passage of the bill will generate more revenue for the government.