The Director‑General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA), Mohammed Abdul‑Salam, has said no lottery vendor should be seen using pen and paper to stake lotto, and must instead use the Point of Sale (POS) machine.

Speaking to the media, he said the authority is confident of transitioning to a fully paperless lottery system through its partnership with Fidelity Bank to deploy POS machines to lottery vendors. He warned that vendors who refuse to use the POS machines will be compelled to do so.

"This is just one leg of the reforms, once we get these equipment there we try to compete, we try to enforce regulation, as I indicated if you go to the market today a lot more people are still writing with paper and pen.

"We have had an arrangement with the license PLOs in particular that ends in July, no body should be seen using pen and paper. We do know that end July more people who are so used and fixed with it will continue, we need to go out there with an enforcement drive to compel people to do the stake through the electronic equipment," he stated.

Mr. Abdul‑Salam said the move will help the authority measure sales in markets, calculate prize payouts accurately and determine how much revenue is due to the state.

He reiterated that the aim of the lottery is not to make any individual or group rich, nor to allow anyone to circumvent rules and siphon resources, but to generate more revenue for the state for developmental projects.

"The whole business of lottery is not aimed at making any individual or any group of people rich, it is supposed to generate revenue for the state for the purpose of providing developmental needs for the people.

"Our business is not to allow any body to circumvent the rules for the purpose of siphoning resources that should ordinary come to the state for the purpose of development," he said.