FCT Lottery Regulatory Office Begins Operations; Seven-Day Window for NLRC Licensees

The Federal Capital Territory Lottery Regulatory Office (FCT-LRO) has commenced full operations as the gaming regulator for Abuja and published a paid notice in Premium Times on 10 November 2026. The notice requires operators previously licensed by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) who operate in, or intend to operate in, the Federal Capital Territory to begin regularising with the FCT-LRO within seven days; valid NLRC licences will be recognised for their remaining validity and converted to corresponding FCT-LRO licences. The office also set out that online operators remain free to choose which regulator licenses them.

What the FCT-LRO statement says

The public notice, headed "FCT-LRO COMMENCES FULL BUSINESS OPERATIONS", was signed by the office's Director-General and published as a paid announcement on 10 November 2026. The FCT-LRO describes itself as the authority responsible for "the oversight, regulation and supervision of gaming activities within the Federal Capital Territory" and tells operators doing business in the FCT to comply with FCT licensing and regulatory requirements and to deal with the FCT-LRO on all regulatory matters. The notice commits the office to providing a "transparent, consistent and predictable regulatory environment for digital gaming operations" in the territory.

The notice lists the categories the office is designated to license and supervise:

• Retail lotteries

• Consumer sales promotional campaigns

• Sports betting

• Charity and community raffles

• Fixed odds and pari-mutuel lotteries

• Casino gaming

• Interactive gaming, including mobile VAS and telco-facilitated gaming

The office's publication follows guidance issued earlier in 2026 and the Supreme Court's 2024 judgment that reallocated regulatory competence for gaming, as explained in a June 2026 regulatory guide by Lagos law firm Adeola Oyinlade & Co. That guide describes Abuja as the second-largest gaming market in Nigeria after Lagos.

Seven days for former NLRC licence holders

Operators that hold NLRC licences and operate in the FCT, or plan to, must start the FCT-LRO regularisation process within seven days of the notice's publication. The office stressed that no time already remaining on a valid NLRC licence will be lost. The notice states:

"any NLRC licence that remains valid and has not expired will be recognised for the remainder of its validity period and converted to the corresponding FCT-LRO licence." — FCT-LRO

To effect the conversion, affected operators must hand over their NLRC-issued licences for verification and documentation, complete the FCT-LRO's regularisation procedures and obtain the appropriate FCT gaming licence. The notice does not specify consequences for operators that miss the seven-day window.

Position on online operators and inter-regulator choice

The FCT-LRO's notice takes a cautious position on online gaming. It says the Supreme Court judgment delivered on 22 November 2024 did not fully settle how online gaming should be regulated and did not grant any single state exclusive control over the online market. The office therefore states that the online market remains open and that operators may select the regulator they prefer based on business model and operational needs.

"Operators are free to choose the regulator from whom they wish to obtain their gaming licence or authorisation, based on their business model, operational needs and the regulatory framework they consider most suitable and beneficial to their business." — FCT-LRO

The notice adds that no state regulator should pressure or penalise an operator simply because it chose a licence from another regulator, and it reminds operators that being online does not automatically exempt a platform from licensing obligations where those obligations apply.

Legal basis cited by the FCT-LRO

The office grounds its authority in the Supreme Court judgment in Attorney-General of Lagos State & 21 Others v. Attorney-General of the Federation & 15 Others, Suit No. SC/1/2008, delivered on 22 November 2024, which held that lotteries, betting and gaming are residual matters for the states and declared the National Lottery Act 2005 unconstitutional. The FCT-LRO also cites Section 299 of the 1999 Constitution, under which the Federal Capital Territory has a distinct status and the National Assembly exercises the legislative powers that a State House of Assembly holds elsewhere.

A subsequent effort to re-establish federal-level regulation, the Central Gaming Bill 2025, passed the National Assembly but did not receive presidential assent. More than twenty states have formed the Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria (FSGRN), which issues a reciprocity licence covering online sports betting, online casino, public online lottery and promotional competitions across member states.

The legal guide from Adeola Oyinlade & Co suggests the National Lottery Regulatory Commission's role has, by implication, become limited to the FCT. The FCT-LRO's notice treats the NLRC as a former licensing body whose licensees must now move across; Betting Companies Africa has not seen a response from the NLRC to the notice.

Named operators and public guidance for bettors

The notice publishes lists of operators recognised as licensed in the FCT across four categories: casino, sports betting, lotto and interactive gaming. The lotto list names seven companies, including Lucky9ja Lotto Limited, Derby Lotto Limited, Yellowdot Africa Nigeria Limited and Morrich Lotto Limited. Company names on the other lists include Sporty Internet Ltd, KC Gaming Networks Ltd, Bet Afrik Limited and Football Internet Ltd.

The published lists use company names rather than consumer-facing brand names and contain repeated names, a numbering gap in the sports betting list and a leftover "(INSERT LIST)" placeholder; the FCT-LRO's lists should therefore be read with care.

For players in Abuja, the notice asks the public to verify an operator's licensing status before using it. A shop or app listed by the FCT-LRO is recognised by the territory's regulator; an online operator absent from those lists is not automatically unlicensed because it may hold a licence from another regulator. The notice warns that an old NLRC licence on its own should be treated with caution since holders of NLRC licences are required to move to an FCT licence if they operate in the Federal Capital Territory.

Betting Companies Africa's Nigeria betting guide summarises which operators take Nigerian players and under which licences; questions about an operator's status may be directed to the FCT-LRO at 2B Embu Crescent, Ishaku Rabiu Estate, off Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse 2, Abuja, or by telephone on +234 802 347 6076 and +234 813 052 5876.

For background on the regulatory rationale and the FCT-LRO's designation of activities, see the Lagos law firm guide and the FCT-LRO notice itself in the regulation section. The office's notice was published on 10 November 2026 and the report was last updated on 11 November 2026. It was not yet known how many former NLRC licensees had started regularising, what penalties apply after the seven-day window, or whether the NLRC will respond.