Gbajabiamila calls for action against fake news peddlers

The National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) has urged Nigerians to stand up against fake news to ensure a better and more secure society.

Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila, the NLRC Director-General, made the call in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

Gbajabiamila said fake news was capable of destroying the reputation of a credible organisation and setting people against each other.

He cited a situation where the commission was falsely accused of generating over six billion naira and remitting zero naira as the height of irresponsible reporting.

Gbajabiamila said the misleading report that circulated on social media would have been avoided if the information had been scrutinised.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to scrutinise information from social media before attaching importance to it.

“The report falsely alleges that the Commission generated N6.3 billion in 2022 but remitted zero Naira, with a deficit of N252 million, while fully funded by the Federal Government.

“It is imperative to clarify that this report does not pertain to the NLRC. This deliberate dissemination of misinformation threatens the reputation and trustworthiness of the Nigerian lottery sector and the credibility of the NLRC itself.

“Our bedrock of trust and credibility, which we have painstakingly built over the years, is eroded by these deliberate attempts to mislead, and we are deeply troubled by this.

“Let me be unequivocal in stating that the NLRC disassociates itself from the recent false claims erroneously or deliberately linking us to alleged fund misappropriation by the Nigerian Lottery Trust Fund (NLTF).

“The House of Representatives Committee on Finance quizzed the NLTF, but confusion arose when some media organisations mistakenly referenced the NLRC instead of the intended entity, the NLTF, in their reports.

“The media agencies promptly issued an apology to the NLRC for this error,” Gbajabiamila said.

He regretted that, in spite of the apology, some individuals with malicious intent were taking advantage of the mistake to involve the Commission in an unrelated matter.

The director-general explained that the NLTF was neither the regulator nor the custodian of lottery figures in Nigeria.

“The much-needed Central Monitoring System, which the NLRC will deploy to monitor all lottery activities in the country and provide an accurate figure of the worth and revenue generation, has not taken off yet.

“So, it will be misleading to project and brandish unverified numbers in this regard.

“These baseless assertions distort reality and cast an unwarranted shadow on the NLRC’s unwavering commitment to transparency and fairness,” Gbajabiamila added.