A Civil Society Organisation, Action for Justice and Transparency against Corrupt Practices (AJTAC), has called for the suspension of the Director-General of the Nigerian National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Lanre Gbajabiamila, following allegations of corruption in his office.
As per a report by Inclusion.com, the organisation alleges that staff in Gbajabiamila’s office have misappropriated funds.
The Chairperson, Felix Nwankwo, published a statement claiming that the office has been in existence for over 10 years but has generated less than N10bn, rendering its mandate redundant.
When Gbajabiamila first took office in 2015, he came with high hopes that he would initiate the mandate of the NLRC and put to bed the allegations of fraud and corruption.
However, his critics said that he came to the position with an ‘enormous’ conflict of interest after serving as the Director-General of the Lagos Lottery Board.
Nwankwo’s statement read: “The reports alleged that the DG had conspired with some staff in the commission to transfer millions of naira from government coffers to an individual account.
“One of the media stories revealed that these financial transactions were acknowledged by the DG’s personal media aid, who explained that they were intended to provide funds to patronize the National Assembly Committees that oversee the activities of the Commission.
“Detailed and specific accounts disclosed brazen deceit, financial fraud, and impunity on behalf of the Director-General. This report was contained in a petition to EFCC and the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs”.
AJTAC now calls for the immediate suspension of Gbajabiamila and a thorough investigation into any potentially fraudulent or corrupt activities within his office.