The frozen account of Premier Lotto, popularly known as Baba Ijebu by the Central Bank of Nigeria has started taken toll on the business.
Checks at some baba Ijebu lotto kiosks in Abuleegba area of Lagos state revealed low footfalls in general.
In some other areas, it was as dry as if the business never existed
The news of the frozen account has travelled so wide that even regular customers on the street fear that their token might not yield any proceed this period.
One of the company’s agent , Kazeem explained the sudden change in business not too long after the news broke yesterday.
He said, “a lot of people came mocking me that I’m on my own o. They asked me to go home and rest for now, saying that money is on vacation. Baba Ijebu has entered red. “
Theparrot.ng observed that many of the lotto players did not get the actual information as to why the account was suspended.
The popular impression was that the operator of the lotto business is facing bankruptcy.
SaharaReporters reported that Premier lotto was among the 38 Nigerian companies that Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, froze their account.
In a circular dated September 4, Bello Hassan, CBN’s Director of Banking Supervision, asked banks to place the accounts of the 38 companies on Post-No-Debit (PND) order.
“You are hereby required to place the under listed accounts on Post-No-Debit with immediate effect and revert with the account names, numbers, currencies and balances of all accounts placed on PND.
“Note that only the listed entities should be placed on PND, all related accounts are excluded. Your response should be forwarded to the underlisted email addresses Osoladipo@cbn.gov.ng or moabeng@cbn.gov.ng,” part of the circular read.
The regulator’s move reportedly came months after the EFCC launched an investigation into the activities of Adebutu for alleged tax fraud and economic sabotage.
According to PREMIUM TIMES, Segun, one of Adebutu’s children and other management officials of Premier Lotto were in January detained at the EFCC office in Lagos.
According to officials of the commission, the investigation was as a result of a petition submitted by Western Lotto, another betting company run by late Buruji Kashamu.
The medium quoted sources as saying that they had identified N5bn revenue that should have been remitted to the Nigerian Government but was allegedly kept aside by the company.
It was also gathered that the probe might extend to include other betting companies and investigate claims of sharp practices and how some firms allegedly withhold funds from winning customers.
