Corruption allegations: Lottery commission boss demands N5bn compensation

Director-General, National Lottery Regulatory Commission, Mr. Lanre Gbajabiamila has demanded an immediate retraction of allegations made against him by an Abuja based company, Global Integrity Crusade Network, accusing him of malfeasances in the running of the commission.

In an explanatory and demand letter by the legal advisor, Mr Frank Ike Chude, Gbajabiamila also asked for a well-worded apology to be published in both local and international print and electronic media, including at least three Nigerian newspapers, within seven days in addition to payment of N5 billion “in seeming compensation to our client, for the irreparable loss to his highly earned image and reputation.”

In the demand letter, copy of which was made available to Tribune Online, Chude debunked all the allegations contained in the petition describing them as “fictitious, unfounded, malicious and gravely defamatory.”

According to letter, “our client has been running the commission diligently, effectively, efficiently, honestly and in total compliance with the statutes of the establishment and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He has, in profound measures added verifiable values to the commission.

“The National Lottery Regulatory Commission under the leadership of our client (Mr. Gbajabiamila) has been performing excellently to the satisfaction of the Board and its other stakeholders. The profundity, creativity and zeal with which our client leads the commission.

“In less than three years of leadership, Gbajabiamila has turned around the fortunes of the commission.

“For instance, the internally generated revenue of the commission which had been hovering between 200M and 400M Naira since its establishment in 2005 shot up beyond one billion in less than 12 months after his assumption of office and since then the revenue continues to increase, steadily.

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“Mr. Chude further disclosed that all the agencies copied in the petition had already thoroughly investigated all the allegations and found our client unblemished and innocent,” stressing that “the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), and the Governing Board of the Commission had investigated the allegations contained in your petition and cleared our client of any malfeasance. The commission was given a clean bill of health.”

He explained that “from N275,923,119.51, which he met on arrival, the IGR rose to N512,365,635 in less than three months of operation in 2017. In 2018, it shot up to N1,164,714,228 in 2018 and increased to N1,239,072,706.52 in 2019.”