Naira Marley’s Winning Bet with UK Bookmaker Sparks Conversation on ‘Illegal’ Operators

Nseobong Okon-Ekong asked operators and regulators in the gaming Industry if a sports betting company based outside Nigeria can accept a bet from Nigerians

The final match at the Qatar World Cup, between Argentina and France, was a win-some-lose-some moment for punters all over the world. For celebrated Nigerian entertainer Azeez Fashola, better known as Naira Marley, the soccer duel ended on a sweet note, making him £3,888.41 (N3,305,148.5 street exchange rate at N850 to £1) richer.

Naira Marley posted a betting ticket with the name ‘QAT-CHING’ on Twitter from a foreign bookie he cleverly shielded. A further search on the internet, however, revealed that Marley had actually placed his bet with Paddy Power, an Irish bookmaker that has adopted a two-pronged approach to its business: The UK Ireland (UKI) transactions are controlled from its headquarters in Dublin, while it chose Malta as a base for its international business. Having merged with Betfair in 2016, it is now run by Flutter Entertainment as its parent company. Paddy Power is part of Flutter Entertainment Plc, an international sports betting and gaming operator listed on the London and Irish Stock Exchanges. 

Did Paddy Power Flout Nigerian/UK Laws?

Last October, the Federal Government hinted at the possibility of issuing a remote permit to operators with a valid licence in another jurisdiction that wants to serve players in Nigeria. The terms and conditions would be spelt out by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) under its Director General, Mr Lanre Gbajabiamila. The proposed permit will be valid for five years. Operators will pay an initial $100,000 to receive the permit, followed by fees of $50,000 for the next four years. This suggestion immediately met stiff opposition from operators domiciled in Nigeria. Its umbrella trade group, the Association of Nigerian Bookmakers (ANB), expressed surprise about the plan to give remote operation permits to foreign operators. ANB’s Executive Secretary, Bimpe Akingba, explained to GAMING WEEK in a recent interview that the body understood that regulators were attempting”to block them (foreign operators) and make them come inside to get a license.” Therefore, information on the possibility of remote permits to foreign operators came to the body “as a shock.”

The NLRC has a list that contains ALL (with emphasis) Sports Betting Operators approved by the Federal Republic of Nigeria on its website. It clearly states, “Any Sports Betting Operator not listed (here) is classified as an illegal operator.” 

Paddy Power is glaringly not on the NLRC list. Whereas the Nigerian Bookmaker, Blackbet, promoted by Mr Jason Njoku, is licensed both in Nigeria and the UK.

Responding to whether companies based outside Nigeria can accept a bet from Nigerians, Mr. Yahaya Maikori, Principal Partner, Law Allianz, said, “Nothing stops them since they are not actively targeting Nigerian players. This is the era of e-commerce.”

GAMING WEEK enquired of Paddy Power, Paddy Power’s CEO, Peter Jackson and the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) @BetGamecouncil, the standards body that regulates the betting and gaming industry in the UK through email and Twitter. The responses came via @askpaddypower on Twitter. It apologised for its inability to “comment on customers’ accounts.” The email to the CEO with the address on the company’s website failed to deliver.

“Many thanks for contacting the Betting and Gaming Council. You will receive a reply to your email in due course,” said an automatic email reply from the BGC. That was eight days ago. No further communication has been received from the BGC.

Its Nigerian counterpart, the NLRC, has neither responded to the corporate enquiry directed at it nor has the Director-General answered similar questions sent to his phone. Also, tweets at @officialnairam1 to clarify some issues were not acknowledged.

Drawing a line between an individual and a corporate body, Mr Bashir Are, Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LSLGA), based his conclusions on the Nigerian constitution. 

He stated: “Our focus is about compliance by all operators. You can not conduct such business in Nigeria physically or remotely without complete adherence to the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria as amended. It is an illegal business operation as far as the Nigerian constitution is concerned.”

Where Was Marley When He Placed the Bet?

Considering the location of Marley at the time he placed the bet, Mr. Tunji Idowu, Managing Director, Velex Advisory, made a couple of observations. One, he shouldn’t be able to play from Nigeria. But if this is possible – it means that foreign companies can operate in Nigeria without a license, not paying tax, and collecting data of Nigerians without being data compliant to the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB). “All these are illegal,” he stated like Bashir Are.

The second possibility put forward by Idowu is that Marley could have placed his winning bet “while abroad because he was physically present in that jurisdiction.” 

Marley is standing trial on an 11-count charge bordering on credit card fraud, for which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting him at a Federal High Court in Lagos.

This is how the foreign bookie @Ask PADDY POWER responded to our questions, “we would not comment on customers’ accounts, apologies.” 

An executive of a Nigerian Bookmaker, MelBet, Mr Alexander Ezekiel, observed the pattern of Marley’s bet as that of an experienced punter, He said, “His selections were heavily calculated and professional too, it shows it’s not his first time, or he was probably led by someone who knows the game very well.”

Ezekiel was disappointed that the resulting media attention from Marley’s winning bet should have been on a Nigerian operator. 

He explained, “I can say for certain there is nothing a foreign company wants to pay him that MelBet cannot give him and even more, coupled with the bonuses, fast payout, easy payout and funny enough we bear the tax and don’t charge the players, so tell me is it not better to bet in Nigeria?”

Every respondent, including Are, Maikori and Mr Ola Faro of Afe Babalola Chambers, held the view that Marley did not contravene any law. 

“There is no law prohibiting it, so he can’t be sanctioned,” said Faro. 

Maikori added, “There is no law against him placing a bet on a foreign sports books.” 

The Lagos State Lotteries Regulatory chief said “we can not sanction individuals.”

Threat of Illegal Foreign Operators in Nigeria

The activities of illegal gaming operators pose an imminent threat to the survival of duly licensed local bookmakers. While the sole consideration of the federal government in suggesting offshore permit to foreign operators is anchored on revenue generation, the ANB argues that the focus need not be on revenue generation every time. 

Its Executive Secretary, Bimpe Akingba, said, “The FG should look beyond revenue generation to the implication of licencing these operators remotely. The first question is, how do you hope to ensure compliance, since these companies do not have a physical presence in Nigeria? What benefit is it to local operators to have competitors who are not dealing with issues of double taxation? Double taxation is a major problem for local operators. It is a major source of profit drain. There is the issue of repatriation of funds for foreign operators who are locally licensed here. Local operators are generating employment. Why would the FG, in the gaming industry, allow some people outside Nigeria, who are not generating employment cash in on the industry? Apart from generating employment for Nigerians the locally licensed operators are paying gaming taxes. They are paying company income tax, PAYE; all of these other taxes. Besides direct employment there are other types of employment generated. These people have vendors. In advertising, they are engaging local advertisement agencies. There are no benefits to allow the illegal operators into the country.”

The war against illegal operators in the gaming industry can only make an appreciable impact through a sustained effort. Therefore, the Chief Gaming Industry Regulator in Lagos, Bashir Are has elected to “sanction those operators locally and at the international level. It may take time, but they will pay for their illegal activities.”

He insisted, “Offshore license is illegal under the Nigeria Constitution.” He spoke further on illegal operators’ negative impact, and said, “It will also create massive layoffs in the industry. Nigeria investors must enjoy their initial investments, they struggle to get the industry to where it is today, offshore operators has miniature benefit to our economy. It is another loophole for capital flights, which will further damage value of naira.” 

Faro, who is in the team of lawyers deployed by the ANB, noted that illegal operators is “one of the issues raised by the Association of Nigerian Bookmakers which need urgent attention.”

He would like to see a situation where foreign sports betting companies are licensed to be able to do business in Nigeria. 

“They must be regulated by our regulators or else they will take benefit of our huge market at expense of local operators who will later be out of business due to absence of level playing field,” he stated.

For Are, he anticipates a future in which local gaming platforms are developed for export, “just like what Nigeria Fintech companies are doing in Africa and globally.”

ADVISORY: +18 PERSONS UNDER 18 MUST NOT PARTICIPATE IN BETTING,  GAMING OR LOTTERY ACTIVITY