The National Lottery Authority (NLA) is informing the staking public, media, lotto discounters, lotto marketing companies and other stakeholders that the payment of winning tickets/prize after every draw would slightly delay for a number of days due to the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected its work schedule and the activities of lotto fraudsters.

According to the NLA, their employees currently run on shift as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Inasmuch as we are ever willing to satisfy the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies, it is equally important for NLA to also take pragmatic steps to protect the lives of the employees of the Authority in this difficult period of the Coronavirus pandemic.

"Due to the shifts system currently administered by the Authority, validation and payment of winning tickets would reasonably delay and we are respectfully appealing to the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies to exercise patience since we are not in normal times," NLA said in a statement.

The delay the Authority says has also become imperative because it has to properly investigate winning tickets before payment due to the rising activities of lotto fraudsters in the lottery industry.

"The decision by NLA to do due diligence, thorough investigation and validation of Winning Tickets would definitely affect the timelines for payment," the statement added.

From the above reasons, the NLA has urged the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies to promptly register their respective winning tickets at nearby regional and district offices of the Authority or even at the Authority's Head Office for thorough validation and investigation of the winning tickets before payment.

The NLA appealed to the staking public, lotto discounters and lotto marketing companies to exercise patience with the process "so that collectively and individually we all can transform the lottery industry."