The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has declined judicial consent in the Western Lotto’s request for recognition of an agreement which was believed to have entered under a “high level of secrecy” between Lotto and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission with respect to controlling the gaming industry in another jurisdiction, which is Ghana.
In the matter of WESTERN LOTTO LIMITED VS NATIONAL LOTTERY REGULATORY COMMISSION & 24 OTHERS (SUIT NO FHC/L/CS/2321/19), the honorable court having considered various pending applications of defendants before it, ruled to “decline the application of western Lotto to recognize and give consent to their purported agreement with National Lottery Regulatory Commission.”
The court agreed with the argument that since there is a subsisting appeal on the matter and the record of appeal has been compiled, the court could not give consent to the purported agreement. Therefore the court adjourned “sine die”, meaning “till the appeal is determined.”
Western Lotto had sought to totally discontinue the original case in order to file a new one which would have allowed the court to consider its consent judgment motion but when that failed the company tried to obtain a judgment in secret and that leaked and a lot of attention was now given to the case when people stormed the court on Monday 19th July 2020.
Meanwhile the pressure on western Lotto to deliver on its promises to the Ghanaian Lotto authorities continued to mount because Ghana had the impression that western lotto was a big influential Lotto company in Nigeria.
Reacting to the development, Chairman of the Nigerian Licensed Lottery Operators Forum, Chima Onwuka applauded the Court for doing what is right and just, noting that the association is further encouraged by the development.
