The Oyo State House of Assembly has passed the Gaming and Lottery Board Bill during plenary on Wednesday.
The Lawmakers also passed the Chieftaincy amendment Bill 2023.
The passage of the Bill was sequel to the presentation of the report of the joint Committees on Public Account, Finance and Appropriation, Commerce and Cooperatives as well as Investment Monitoring and State Economic Planning.
The Bill is meant to see to the establishment of Gaming and Lottery Board in Oyo State and sanitise the Gaming and Lottery business and activities in the state so as to ensure that the industry was regulated in line with international best practices.
While deliberating on the Bill, the legislature said it was equally aimed at addressing leakages in the industry which would consequently lead to increase in the revenue generated into the coffers of the Oyo State government.
It is the duty of the Gaming and Lottery Board to grant licences and permits for gaming, betting, lottery, casino, and other related businesses in the state.
The Board would also be empowered to issue guidelines or policy documents on responsible gaming, remote and electronic gaming, monitoring platforms, gaming and lottery advertisements, gaming and lottery premises and their usages, as well as non-commercial and private gaming permits.
Similarly, as part of the legislative business of Wednesday plenary, the Oyo State House of Assembly also passed the Chieftaincy Amendment Bill 2023.
The Bill was sponsored by Governor Seyi Makinde as an Executive Bill seeking to amend the Chiefs Law, Cap 28, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.
The passage followed the presentation of the report of the House Committee on Local Government and State Honours.
With the passage, the state legislature has now substituted sub-section (1) of section 28 with a new clause.
The initial provision of sub-section (1) which reads: “The Governor may cause such inquiries to be held at such times and in such places and by such person or persons as it or he may consider necessary or desirable”, has now been substituted with: “The Governor may cause such inquiries to be held at such times and in such places and by such person or persons as he may consider necessary or desirable”.
To this end, former Clause (3) has now become Clause (4) hence the new sub-section (3) now reads: “Any person who pursuant to sub-section (1) of this section is elevated to wear beaded crown from Baales to Minor Chiefs who being a customary tenant shall continue to pay obeisance to his prescribed or consenting authority. “
The Oyo State House of Assembly had, on Friday, 12th May, 2023, held a public hearing on the proposed amendment where opinions of all stakeholders were aggregated.
The Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Honourable Adebo Ogundoyin, while announcing the passage of the amendment commended the committee for a thorough job.
Ogundoyin described the amendment as a good development which would give the governor discretionary power in respect of the chieftaincy holders that are entitled to wear beaded crowns.
Diverse views had trailed the proposed Bill by various stakeholders, especially traditional rulers from across the state, with some seeing the Bill as a usurpation of the powers of the traditional councils, while some others lauded the government for the initiative.
The new law gives the governor the discretionary right and sole authority to specify those to wear beaded crowns without consultation with the Council of Obas and Chiefs of the state.
Confidence Okwuchi
