The Federal Government warned, yesterday, that it would not tolerate sharp practices in the lottery industry, threatening to deal with anyone found wanting.

Secretary to Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr. Babachir Lawal, who gave the warning at a meeting with the management of National Lottery Regulatory Commission, NLRC, in his office in Abuja, said fraudulent practices in the industry would be tantamount to sabotage, especially under-remittance of revenue due government.

He assured the management of NLRC that the Federal Government would support them in their determination to generate more revenue for government through lottery activities.

Lawal also commended the commission for the deployment of modern and automation technology to monitor operators in the industry.

He urged them to be more aggressive in enforcement activities, to ensure that all revenues due government, in these austere times, were collected.

He said all legal disputes affecting the operations of the commission should be resolved speedily and appealed to those with unused lottery licenses to utilise them without further delay or risk forfeiture.

The SGF told the commission that he would work closely with the Attorney-General of the Federation to strengthen the legal framework within which the commission operated to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of the commission as an industry regulator.

Lawal charged the commission to create new products for the industry to reap the full revenue earning potentialities that a huge population had to offer.

In his remarks, Director-General of the commission, Adolphus Ekpe, said his commission had developed a robust transaction monitoring platform that will be deployed in its operations shortly.

He added that the new platform offers transparency to all actors in the industry, including the players, operators and the regulator such that disputes are substantially eliminated.

He said the new technology was now being test-run with access to the activities of a number of operators, after which it will be officially launched.