A Closer Look at the Gambling Laws You Will Find in Nigeria

Online casinos and betting on sports is something that has become really popular in Nigeria. In fact, it is estimated that Nigerians spend around 60 million dollars a year betting on sports. In the following article we are going to take a look at gambling in Nigeria. All that you need to know about the rules and legislation surrounding gambling in Nigeria can be found below.

The Gambling History of Nigeria

At the beginning of the 1990s, lotteries, betting pools, and slots were the more popular types of gambling in Nigeria. Although there were a number of gambling regulators, policies, and laws already around, gambling across the whole country was something that was mostly unregulated.

However, fast forward a decade and things started to change when new policies and laws were passed as a means to regulate and govern better the gambling scene in Nigeria. Such laws included the likes of the Taxes and Levies Act (1998), the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999), the Casino and Gaming Law of Lagos State (2004), and there was also the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (2007). These aforementioned polices and laws helped to pave the way for gambling sectors across the country to be privatized.

The Different Types of Gambling You Will Find in Nigeria

There are four popular types of gambling in Nigeria and these are brick and mortar casinos, lotteries, sports betting, and online gambling. Let us now take a closer look at these.

Lotteries

Nigerians love to play the lottery, which is the main reason why you can find many regulated and licensed lottery operators across the country. When you are playing the Nigerian lottery, you have to select 6 numbers between 1-49. If you get all the numbers correct, then you will win a lovely jackpot. If you manage to get three, four, or five numbers correct then you will also win dome money. The Nigerian National Lottery board is in charge and their main aim is to try and raise money so that they can develop sports across the country.

Land-based Casinos

There are three brick and mortar casinos in Nigeria - two of them can be found in Lagos, while the third one can be located in Abuja. The two in Nigeria are called the Federal Palace Hotel and Casino and Le Meridien Eko Hotel & Casino, while the one in Abuja is called the Transcorp Hilton Abuja. At these three casinos you can find a wide variety of slots and table games.

Sports Betting

Nigerians spend an awful lot of money on sports betting every single year, with football being the sport that is most popular. However, Nigerians also love to bet on sports such as cricket, basketball, tennis, and ice hockey. There are hundreds of betting shops scattered across the country where Nigerians can go and bet on sports. To add to this, there are also plenty of online sports betting sites that Nigerians are more than welcome to register with. If you want more info on the legislation on sports betting sites go to this site.

Online Casinos

Nigerians really love their sports betting, but online casinos are growing in popularity as well. There are many online casinos outside of Nigeria that are willing to accept players from Nigeria. Online casinos are banned in Nigeria as the government is against games of sheer luck. However, they cannot stop Nigerians from signing up with online casinos from abroad.