A long-established Nigerian bookmaker with a large shop estate - and a licence we could not verify
Visit 1960Bet →1960Bet welcome bonus in Nigeria
Context for Nigeria: Nigeria changed who licenses betting, and the old answer is still the one most sites give you. On 22 November 2024 the Supreme Court nullified the National Lottery Act 2005 in its entirety, holding that the National Assembly had no constitutional power to legislate on lotteries and games of chance - these are residual matters belonging to the STATES. The practical consequence is that the National Lottery Regulatory Commission is no longer the nationwide authority: its remit is now limited to the Federal Capital Territory, and an NLRC licence issued before the ruling is not a valid basis for multi-state operation. So if an operator's footer, or an affiliate page, offers 'NLRC licensed' as proof it is legal where you live, that assurance is out of date. What counts now is a licence from YOUR state's gaming regulator, or a Universal Reciprocity Certificate from the Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria (FSGRN) - and the URC only covers FSGRN member states, of which there are around 22, so a significant number of states sit outside it entirely. Betting itself remains legal in Nigeria; it is the paperwork that moved. Some legal uncertainty is still unresolved, including what regularisation means for operators licensed under the old federal regime, so check your own state's regulator before you treat any licence claim as settled.
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Nigeria changed who licenses betting in November 2024
On 22 November 2024 the Supreme Court of Nigeria, in Attorney General of Lagos State & Ors v Attorney General of the Federation & Ors (Suit No. SC/1/2008), unanimously nullified the National Lottery Act 2005. A seven-member panel held that the National Assembly had no power to legislate on lotteries and games of chance, so the Act - and the National Lottery Regulatory Commission it created - now applies only within the Federal Capital Territory. Regulating betting elsewhere in Nigeria is exclusively a matter for state governments.
What that means when you read any Nigerian review, including ours: an NLRC licence number no longer establishes, on its own, that an operator is authorised in your state. Many of our Nigerian pages still describe licensing in NLRC terms because that was the framework when they were written, and we are working through them. Check your own state regulator's list - for example the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority - before you deposit.
Pros
- A genuinely long-established operator: incorporated in 2010, company number RC 927663
- Named founder and a real Lagos head office, not an anonymous offshore brand
- Large physical presence reported at over 2,000 shops across more than 20 states
- 100% first-deposit match up to NGN 100,000
Cons
- We withdrew our previous claim that it is 'genuinely NLRC-licensed' - that came from the operator's own site
- No entry on the Lagos LSLGA list or the FCT LRO register, both read on 20 July 2026
- A federal NLRC licence is the framework the Supreme Court invalidated for the states in November 2024
- The welcome bonus must be cleared on accumulators of 3+ events at odds of 1.50 or higher
- Very little independent scrutiny of the operator exists
- Nigeria only
Our verdict
CORRECTION FIRST. An earlier version of this page told you, in four separate places and as plain fact, that 1960Bet is 'genuinely licensed by the NLRC'. We are withdrawing that. It came from a single source - the operator's own website - and we dressed an operator's self-description up as our verification by adding the word 'genuinely'. We could not confirm it: the brand appears on neither the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority's published list nor the FCT Lottery Regulation Office register, both of which we read on the same day. It also got the law backwards. On 22 November 2024 the Supreme Court held that lotteries and betting are residual matters belonging to the states, invalidating the federal licensing framework under the National Lottery Act 2005. An NLRC licence is the very instrument that judgment struck down, so presenting it in 2026 as the reassuring fact about a Nigerian bookmaker was not merely unverified but misleading. More than twenty states have since adopted a Universal Reciprocity Certificate to license across state lines; that, not a federal licence, is where the question now lives. What we can say is that the business behind the brand is real and long-established. 1960Bet is operated by Winners Bookmaker Nig. Ltd, incorporated in Nigeria on 21 December 2010 under company number RC 927663, founded by Dotun Ajegbile, with its head office on Campos Street on Lagos Island and a reported estate of more than 2,000 shops across over 20 states. A fifteen-year-old company with a physical retail network is a different proposition from an offshore site with a logo - but it is not the same thing as a licence we have seen, and we are keeping those two statements apart. One trap worth naming, because it nearly produces a confident falsehood: the Lagos register does list 'Winners Golden Bet Limited'. That is a different company from Winners Bookmaker Nig. Ltd, and its entry had expired on 28 January 2025 in any case. On the offer itself, read the condition rather than the headline. The 100% match up to NGN 100,000 must be cleared on accumulators of three or more events at odds of 1.50 or higher - a forced multiple, not a free match.
How we rated it
Sportsbook (40%)7
Raised from 6.5 on evidence rather than assertion: this is a substantial retail-and-online operation, reported at over 2,000 shops across more than 20 states, run by a company incorporated in 2010. Scale and longevity are real, even where the paperwork is not something we could check.
Trust & licensing (30%)6.4
Cut from 7.0, and the old reasoning - 'genuine NLRC licensing, real Nigerian regulatory oversight' - is withdrawn: it came from the operator's own site, and a federal NLRC licence is the instrument the Supreme Court invalidated for the states on 22 November 2024. Held up rather than lower by genuine corporate substance: a named company incorporated in 2010 with an RC number, a named founder, a Lagos head office and a large shop estate. Not on the Lagos LSLGA list or the FCT register.
Bonuses & value (20%)6.3
100% of a first deposit up to NGN 100,000 sounds large, but the rollover is the part that matters: it must be cleared on accumulators of three or more events at odds of 1.50 or higher. That is a forced-multiple condition, not a free match, and we have trimmed the score to reflect what clearing it actually takes.
Customer support (10%)6
No documented complaint pattern found, but almost no independent scrutiny of this operator exists either, so this reflects absence of evidence rather than evidence of good service.
Quick facts
| Operator | Winners Bookmaker Nig. Ltd, RC 927663, incorporated 21 December 2010 |
| Founder | Dotun Ajegbile; head office at No 5 Campos Street, Lagos Island |
| Scale | Reported at over 2,000 shops across more than 20 states |
| Licence (claimed) | The operator's own site claims LSLB and NLRC licensing - we could not verify either |
| What we could check | No entry on the Lagos LSLGA list or the FCT LRO register, both read on 20 July 2026 |
| Why it matters | The Supreme Court invalidated the federal NLRC framework for the states on 22 November 2024, so a federal licence is not the reassurance it once was |
| Not the same company | The Lagos list's 'Winners Golden Bet Limited' is a different entity, and that entry expired on 28 January 2025 |
| Markets | Nigeria |
| Welcome bonus | 100% first deposit up to NGN 100,000 |
| Wagering | Must be cleared on accumulators of 3+ events at odds of 1.50 or higher |
How we verified this
Any statement that an operator is licensed is now either read off a regulator's own register or labelled as the operator's own claim. Where two similarly named companies appear on a register we do not treat the near-match as a hit. Corporate details are attributed to the sources that carry them rather than presented as our verification.
Where 1960Bet is licensed
1960Bet appears on the official register in 1 countries. Highlighted countries have a full local review — pick yours for its welcome bonus and licence details.
Africa (1)
About 1960Bet
1960Bet is a long-established Nigerian sportsbook, its name referencing 1960, the year of Nigerian independence. It is operated by Winners Bookmaker Nig. Ltd, incorporated in Nigeria on 21 December 2010 under company number RC 927663 and founded by Dotun Ajegbile, with a head office on Campos Street, Lagos Island, and a reported estate of more than 2,000 shops across over 20 states. New players are offered a 100% first-deposit bonus up to NGN 100,000 on a minimum deposit of NGN 100, which must be cleared on accumulators of three or more events at odds of 1.50 or higher. On licensing we report rather than confirm: an earlier version of this page called the brand genuinely NLRC-licensed, and we withdrew that - see the verdict below.
1960Bet FAQ
Is 1960Bet safe and legit?
The company is real and long-established - Winners Bookmaker Nig. Ltd, incorporated in 2010 under RC 927663, with a large shop estate. Its licensing we could not verify. An earlier version of this page called it 'genuinely NLRC-licensed'; we withdrew that, both because it came only from the operator's own site and because the Supreme Court invalidated the federal NLRC framework for the states on 22 November 2024. Note also that 'Winners Golden Bet Limited' on the Lagos register is a different company.
What is the 1960Bet welcome bonus?
100% of your first deposit up to NGN 100,000. The condition matters more than the headline: it must be cleared on accumulators of three or more events at odds of 1.50 or higher.