{"id":33559,"date":"2026-09-17T20:51:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T23:51:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=33559"},"modified":"2026-09-21T06:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T09:38:23","slug":"kogi-outlines-agency-roles-as-pool-betting-compliance-gaps-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/kogi-outlines-agency-roles-as-pool-betting-compliance-gaps-emerge","title":{"rendered":"Kogi outlines agency roles as pool betting compliance gaps emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A recent compliance exercise found agents unable to provide licensing or payment evidence, while some promoter contact details were no longer active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nigeria.- The Kogi State government has clarified the separate responsibilities of its commerce ministry and revenue service in regulating and collecting payments from pool betting operators. The distinction was made during a stakeholders\u2019 meeting in <strong>Lokoja<\/strong> on Thursday, September 17, involving officials of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, pool betting agents, and representatives of the Pool Betters Association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Permanent secretary <strong>Sualihat Musa-Amana<\/strong> said the ministry remains responsible for licensing pool betting and gaming businesses, negotiating applicable rates, and enforcing licensing requirements. The Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KGIRS), meanwhile, monitors and reconciles payments made by operators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The engagement came after operators raised concerns about enforcement measures and uncertainty over the roles of agencies overseeing the sector. <strong>Moses Otiga<\/strong>, the ministry\u2019s schedule officer, said a recent Revenue Task Force exercise found some agents unable to provide evidence of licensing or payment. Officials also identified premises where licences were not displayed as required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exercise also exposed outdated contact details submitted by some betting promoters. Acting director of commerce <strong>Yakubu Akoye<\/strong> said some of the contacts were no longer active or could not be reached.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Musa-Amana said the ministry was not seeking to impose additional levies or duplicate existing charges. She urged agents to display valid licences at their business premises and provide updated contact details for the promoters they represent. She added that the ministry plans to appoint a desk officer to <strong><\/strong>liaise directly with the association on sector-related issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Revenue Task Force chairman <strong>Tijani Hassan<\/strong> said agents had generally cooperated with officials during the compliance exercise. He said the government would address areas of overlap between agencies through engagement with operators. He also urged agents to maintain contact with the promoters they represent, particularly those operating from outside Kogi State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pool Betters Association president <strong>Mustapha Ahmed<\/strong> said the association would provide the ministry with an updated list of active promoters, companies, and their contact details. The list will help the ministry maintain current records of active promoters and communicate directly with them on licensing, payment, and compliance matters.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\t<div id=\"see-also-container\">\r\n\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label\">See also:<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"related-article\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"related-article__thumbnail\" src=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/08\/photo-1516321318423-f06f85e504b3-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<p class=\"related-article__text\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"see-also-label-strong\">See also:<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/nigeria-to-review-tech-requirements-for-digital-gaming-after-enugu-conference\">Nigeria to review tech requirements for digital gaming after Enugu conference<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recent compliance exercise found agents unable to provide licensing or payment evidence, while some promoter contact details were no longer active.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":6058,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Kogi State government has clarified the distinct regulatory and revenue collection responsibilities of its Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Internal Revenue Service for pool betting operators. This initiative addresses operator concerns regarding enforcement and agency overlaps, following a compliance exercise that revealed widespread issues with licensing, payment evidence, and outdated promoter contact details. The government aims to enhance compliance and streamline communication through clearer mandates and stakeholder engagement.","focusai_entities":"Kogi State government, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Kogi State Internal Revenue Service, KGIRS, Pool Betters Association, Sualihat Musa-Amana, Moses Otiga, Yakubu Akoye, Tijani Hassan, Mustapha Ahmed","focusai_location":"Nigeria, Kogi State, Lokoja, Enugu","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.7), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Impact on Operator Costs?","query":"How might the clarified regulatory framework and enhanced enforcement in Kogi State impact the operational costs and compliance burden for pool betting operators, particularly those operating remotely?"},{"label":"Future Regulatory Harmonization?","query":"What precedent does Kogi State's initiative set for inter-agency regulatory harmonization and compliance enforcement across other Nigerian states, especially concerning digital gaming verticals?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60019,60012],"tags":[78],"class_list":["post-33559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regulation-news","category-west-africa","tag-sports-betting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33559"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33566,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33559\/revisions\/33566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}