The Senate Committee on Youth and Sports on Tuesday threatened to order the shutdown of Bet9ja office if the company failed to honour its invitation for a second time over verification of its operations

The Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Obinna Ogba, made the remark at the National Assembly, Abuja during the verification of lotto companies with license to operate in Nigeria.

Ogba (PDP, Ebonyi Central) said it was unfortunate that Bet9ja refused to honour the committee’s invitation.

“Clerk, write to Bet9ja again. If they did not honour our invitation, we will ask the National Lottery Commission to seal their offices,” he said.

According to him, the Senate is making efforts aimed at assisting the Lottery Commission to generate money for the Federal Government.

“We want to see bet9ja. They can’t run away,” he said.

The chairman explained that the verification followed series of complaints against the betting companies, adding that “some don’t even have offices while others have not been making remittances to the government.”

“Some got the licences but they are not operating. The new regulation only gives them one year to start operations,” he noted.

Meanwhile, about 20 other betting companies appeared before the committee for the verification exercise. (NAN)