The Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) has come under scrutiny following findings in the Auditor-General’s 2025 Report, which uncovered procurement breaches and lapses in revenue collection that exposed the Authority to financial losses and waste of public funds.
The report revealed that the NLA awarded a GH¢400,000 publicity contract to online media platform MyNewsGH.com through a single-source procurement process without obtaining the mandatory approval from the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) Board.
According to the Auditor-General, the contract, signed on September 1, 2025, covered publicity services, including the publication of NLA-related stories, advertisements, campaigns and interviews on lottery products and draws.
The Authority paid GH¢400,000 for the ten-month contract, with GH¢370,000 paid after the deduction of GH¢30,000 in withholding tax.
The audit noted that management failed to secure the required approval before resorting to single-source procurement, contrary to the Public Procurement Act.
It warned that the breach undermined transparency and competitiveness in the procurement process and made it impossible to determine whether the Authority obtained value for money.
The Auditor-General recommended that sanctions under Section 92 of the Public Procurement Act be applied against the officers responsible and urged management to strictly comply with procurement laws in future transactions.
In its response, NLA management acknowledged the observation, stating that the contract had expired and assuring auditors that due process would be followed in subsequent procurements.
The report also uncovered another significant lapse involving unpaid contributions totalling GH¢1 million owed to the Good Causes Foundation by 16 Private Lotto Operators (PLOs).
The Auditor-General found that the operators had failed to honour their contractual obligation to make annual contributions to the Foundation, thereby depriving it of funds earmarked for social intervention programmes.
Although NLA management claimed it had recovered GH¢700,000 of the outstanding amount as of August 30, 2025, the Auditor-General stated that management had not presented evidence of the recoveries for audit verification.
The report warned that the failure to recover the outstanding contributions could adversely affect the implementation of planned projects and undermine the Foundation’s ability to achieve its objectives.
The Auditor-General consequently directed management to ensure the full recovery of the GH¢1 million and enforce strict compliance with the terms of the provisional licence agreements signed with all Private Lotto Operators.
