A software engineer, Sidney Osahon, who was about being evicted by his landlady, has emerged the winner of the N20 million ‘Give n Take’ national lottery jackpot in Abuja.
The 35-year-old native of Edo state explained that he was contemplating selling his mother’s landed property in the Federal Capital Territory, when he received information last Sunday that he is now N20m richer.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday in Abuja, Osahon, said he has been playing the lottery for sometime and seeing others winning, noting that his win came at the time the landlady was threatening to evict him.
He said, “I was owing my landlady a few months’ rents and she has been threatening to evict me. In fact, the day I received the news of my win, she had sent me an SMS in the morning that she was coming for a showdown with me over the arrears of rent.”
“My mother was saying maybe we should sell her parcel of land in Abuja and use part of the proceed to settle the rent, but I felt that was not a progressive thing to do. So I prayed to God that am tired of paying rent and that I would like to move into my own house, and God did it for me, I am now a landlord,” he said jubilantly.
Osahon added that his mother did not believe him when he informed her that he is now a millionaire, noting that she almost fainted in hearing the good news.
“When I told her I have got the money to build my house, she didn’t believe it; She said, ‘I would faint,’” he explained.
The Managing Director, Give ‘n’ Take lottery, Jolly Enabulele, disclosed that Osahon played the lottery with N100, noting that his win from available records, is the biggest lottery prize in the history of lottery in the country.
He further explained that Osahon win the N20m jackpot because the first winner failed to claim the prize, adding that the money was rolled over to another week and Osahon won the star prize.
Enabulele said, “It will interest you to know that a ticket on December 24,2017 emerged the first ticket to win the N20m bonanza, but failed to come forward within seven days to claim his winnings.
“That failure and in keeping with our avowed promise to ensure that someone wins the national jackpot prize, we held a second electronic draw after the weekly jackpot draw, which then saw Osahon joining the millionaires’ club.”
The organizers stated that the jackpot winner would be presented his cheque on Sunday by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission officials.
