Contrary to the earlier claims of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) that Nigerian Breweries Plc failed to regularise its promotional lotteries as required by law, the brewing giant has explained that no court order was shown by officials of the Commission with regard to the temporary shutdown of its premises in Abuja, and Lagos, which were later reopened.
A clarification contained in a statement by NB Head, Government’s Relations, Vivian Ikem, disclosed that “The issues arose from the demand for payment of certain disputed fees which the Commission is claiming from the company for various consumer sales promotions”.
Ikem added that prior to the clampdown, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), on behalf of its member companies, which include Nigerian Breweries Plc, had instituted an action at the Federal High Court (FHC) in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/306/12 against the Commission challenging its powers to regulate consumer sales promotions in the country.
He noted that the matter is subsisting at the Court of Appeal in Suit No: CA/A/267/2016 arising from the appeal brought at the instance of the Commission, while a cross-appeal was subsequently instituted by NECA against the decision of the FHC.
NB averred that “As a law-abiding corporate citizen, Nigerian Breweries Plc has always ensured that all our consumer sales promotions are vetted and approved by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
“Since being established over 70 years ago, Nigerian Breweries Plc has remained one of the highest contributors to government revenue through taxes and levies paid to various levels of government.” In 2017, we contributed by way of taxes and other levies, about N75 billion to the treasury at both the Federal and State levels,” Ikem said.
The brewing giant also stressed that the company has always ensured that it complies with all legitimate demands of government agencies, which are in accordance with the rule of law, and has never sought to deprive government of its legitimate revenue.
In all, NLRC maintained in a counter statement issued by its Head, of Public Affairs, Magnus Ekechukwu, that the interest of the Commission is to ensure that organisations that wished to carry out lottery operations comply with the provisions of the Lottery Act and not carry out such lotteries without due regards to the law.
