The National Lottery Authority says it is committed to paying persons who win big in its lotteries.

NLA gave the assurance on the back of some media publications that it failed to pay big wins since April 2020.

NLA in a statement issued by its Public Relations Unit insisted the reports are untrue.

“The National Lottery Authority (NLA) would like to urge the general public, staking players, Lotto Marketing Companies, media and stakeholders to totally and wholly ignore and discredit the news publication under the headline, National Lottery Authority fails to pay big wins since April,” the Lottery Authority added in the statement.

The NLA also used the opportunity to set the records straight in its statement:

1. It is NEVER TRUE that the National Lottery Authority has failed to pay big winning tickets since April last year. All outstanding prizes are being paid.

Investigations, Auditing and due diligence are always conducted on all big winning tickets in order to prevent payment of fraudulent tickets due to the increasing activities of Lotto Fraudsters.

2. It is NEVER TRUE there is issue of non-payment of wins at various Banks.

3. The *959# mobile game has COME TO STAY. In fact the *959# mobile game forms part of Government’s digitalization programme.

The *959# would continue to operate the original 5/90 Lotto via MTN, Vodafone and AirtelTigo especially during this difficult period of Coronavirus pandemic.

The *959# has been doing very well, serving as an additional revenue stream for NLA and Government. The implementation of *959# has become very critical for sustainability of the revenue generation of NLA.

4. There is no shortage of paper roll currently. Management has taken steps to address all the issues in relation to paper roll shortage.

The management of National Lottery Authority, therefore, would like to state that the issues raised by one Mr. Jacob Odame and his Lotto Marketers Association in the Northern Region are UNTRUE, and we urge everyone to completely disregard that publication.

Issued by: Public Relations Unit of National Lottery Authority

Source: Public Relations Unit of National Lottery Authority