Reports that big ticket winners are not being paid ‘never true’ – NLA

The National Lottery Authority has dismissed allegations it has since April 2020 been unable to pay big winning tickets.

Jacob Odame, the Publications Relations Officer of the Lotto Marketers Association, in a press conference made a number of allegations against the NLA.

Among the claims were the NLA’s inability to settle winners of big tickets and also a shortage of paper roll.

But in a statement issued by its public relations unit, the NLA assured Ghanaians, particularly its clients that it is in the process of paying all of its winners.

“The National Lottery Authority (NLA) would like to urge the general public, staking players, Lotto Marketing Companies, media and stakeholders to totally and wholly ignore and discredit the news publication under the headline, "National Lottery Authority fails to pay big wins since April".

It is never that the National Lottery Authority has failed to pay big winning tickets since April last year. All outstanding prizes are being paid”.

The NLA also stated that *959# mobile game which was rolled out in 2020 was in line with the government’s digitization agenda and not meant to collapse operators who use the kiosk system.

“The 959# mobile game has COME TO STAY. In fact, the 959# mobile game forms part of Government’s digitalization programme. The *959# would continue to operate the original 5/90 Lotto via MTN, Vodafone and AirtelTigo especially during this difficult period of Coronavirus pandemic” part of the statement reads.

Read the full statement below

National Lottery Authority(NLA) Committed to Payment of Big Wins

The National Lottery Authority(NLA) would like to urge the general public, staking players, Lotto Marketing Companies, media and stakeholders to totally and wholly ignore and discredit the news publication under the headline, "National Lottery Authority fails to pay big wins since April".

For the purpose of clarity and setting the records straight:

1. It is NEVER TRUE that National Lottery Authority has failed to pay big winning tickets since April last year. All outstanding prizes are being paid.

Investigations, Auditing and due diligence are always conducted on all big winning tickets in order to prevent payment of fraudulent tickets due to the increasing activities of Lotto Fraudsters.

2. It is NEVER TRUE there is issue of non-payment of wins at various Banks.

3. The *959# mobile game has COME TO STAY. In fact the *959# mobile game forms part of Government’s digitalization programme.

The *959# would continue to operate the original 5/90 Lotto via MTN, Vodafone and AirtelTigo especially during this difficult period of Coronavirus pandemic.

The *959# has been doing very well, serving as an additional revenue stream for NLA and Government. The implementation of *959# has become very critical for sustainability of the revenue generation of NLA.

4. There is no shortage of paper roll currently. Management has taken steps to address all the issues in relation to paper roll shortage.

The management of National Lottery Authority therefore would like to state that the issues raised by one Mr. Jacob Odame and his Lotto Marketers Association in the Northern Region are UNTRUE and we urge everyone to completely disregard that publication.

Issued by: Public Relations Unit of National Lottery Authority