A new public survey released today by Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP) reports high levels of corruption in public
institutions in Nigeria for the past 5 years. Of the five major public
institutions surveyed, the police emerge as the most corrupt, with the
power sector identified as the second most corrupt in the country today.
Other public institutions identified as corrupt by 70% of Nigerians
surveyed are: the judiciary, education and health ministries. The survey
reveals that the level of corruption has not changed in the last 5 years.
The latest report by SERAP entitled Nigeria: Corruption Perception Survey
was launched today at the Sheraton Hotels, Lagos.
According to the survey, “a bribe is paid in 54% of interactions with the
police. In fact, there is a 63% probability that an average Nigerian would
be asked to pay a bribe each time he or she interacted with the police.
That is almost two out of three.”
The chair of the report launch Professor Akin Oyebode said: “Nigeria is
looked upon as a giant of Africa. Yet Nigeria could not conduct free, fair
and credible elections. It is a smear on the image of Nigeria. If we do
away with selective enforcement and condonation of corruption, we will
build and live in a better society. Corruption is a refined form of
stealing. The politicians are stealing our common patrimony. Development
of the people is almost inversely proportional to the level of
corruption.”
The report read in part: “Corruption remains a significant impediment to
law enforcement, access to justice and basic public services such as
affordable healthcare, education, and electricity supply. Several
Nigerians have to pay a bribe to access police, judiciary, power,
education and health services. Corruption is still a key concern in the
country with 70% of Nigerians describing the level of corruption as high
and in the same measure, stating that corruption levels either increased
or remained the same in the last five years.”
“The national survey carried out between September and December 2018,
covered the police, judiciary, power, education and health sectors to
assess the state of corruption in law enforcement and public service
provision.”
“From the analysis of the anti-corruption legal and institutional
framework in Nigeria, the following cross-cutting issues emerged: there is
lack of political goodwill to consistently enforce the different
anti-corruption laws; inadequate funding for the various anti-corruption
agencies; weak public support and/or ownership of anti-corruption
initiatives; poor clarity of roles between various anti-corruption
agencies; and public perceptions of politicisation of corruption arrests
and prosecutions.”
“Bribery experiences were interrogated and recorded in the key sectors of
education, health, the police, judiciary and power. Data analysis was
conducted under five different and interrelated variables. There was a 63%
probability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a bribe each
time he/she interacted with the police. The likelihood of bribery in the
power sector stood at 49%. With the chances of encountering bribery at
the judiciary, education and health services standing at 27%, 25% and 20%
respectively.”
“The police were the most adversely ranked on this indicator. For every
100 police interactions reported by the respondents, there was a bribe
paid in 54 interactions. The prevalence levels stood at 37% in the power
sector and 18% in education,17.7% in the judiciary and 14% in the health
sector.”
“51% of the individuals that paid bribes to the police and 35% to the
power sector believed this was the only way to access the services sought
from the institutions. The ranking of the education sector and the
judiciary was less adverse with 16% perceiving bribery as the main avenue
of accessing services in the institutions, and health services recording
13%.”
“The police and judiciary had the largest proportion of total bribes paid
at 33% and 31% respectively. Bribes paid for education, power and health
services accounted for 19%, 10.9 and 5% respectively of all bribes
reported. The average amount of bribe paid by the respondents was highest
among those who paid to the judiciary at about Naira 108,000 (US$ 298).
All the other institutions ranked lower on this variable with Naira 12,253
and 11,566 reportedly paid to the police and education sectors, and Naira
6,462 and 5,143 paid for health and power services respectively.”
“Perceptions on corruption trends in Nigeria show almost 70% of the
respondents perceived the current level of corruption as high compared to
15.5% that felt it was low. 70% of the respondents said corruption levels
either increased or remained the same in the last five years. Only a
quarter of the respondents felt corruption reduced in this period.”
“About 41% of the respondents projected that corruption will either
increase or remain the same in the next year. About a third of the
respondents (31.5%) believed the ruling elite are pursuing their selfish
interests only therefore corruption levels will increase into the future.
Additionally, about a quarter of the respondents (24.9%) believed the
current anti-corruption efforts are not comprehensive enough. The poor
state of the economy was also seen as a driving factor to increased
corruption at 17.2%.”
“Respondents identified poor coordination among the different state
players as a key obstacle at 18.4%. Lack of political will from the
government and weak public support were ranked second at 12%. Civic action
against poor governance: 54.8% of the respondents reported that they had
not taken any action against poor governance. That more than a half of the
respondents were unwilling to initiate action is alarming and points to
low confidence levels that appropriate measures would be taken even if the
respondents took action.”
“This assumption is buttressed by the finding that 82% of the actions
taken were either not responded to or deemed sufficiently appropriate. Low
civic action may also indicate low levels of public awareness on what
redress mechanisms exist or how to access them.”
“The Federal government should establish an independent commission of
inquiry to conduct a transparent, comprehensive, and impartial
investigation into systemic corruption within the Nigeria Police Force,
judiciary, and the ministries of power, education and health.”
“The Inspector General of Police should receive and investigate complaints
of bribery and corruption against police officers filed by members of the
public. The police should liaise with community leaders and civil society
organisations in regard to incidents of police bribery and corruption
within the community.”
“The Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council should
identify and review all outstanding cases of judicial corruption and refer
such cases to appropriate anti-corruption agencies. They should apply the
Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in a consistent and transparent
manner, with full respect for the fundamental guarantees of fair trial and
due process.”
“The Chief Justice of Nigeria and the NJC should publish annual reports of
all activities involving the judiciary, including expenditure, and provide
the public with reliable information about its governance and
organisation, including the number of judges found to be corrupt, as well
as ensure that the Chief Justice of Nigeria and all other judges make
periodic asset disclosures.”
“The National Assembly should move swiftly to amend the Code of Conduct
Bureau and Tribunal Act to ensure public access to asset declarations made
by public officials, and urgently pass the Proceeds of Crime Bill, the
Whistleblowers Bill, and the Witness Protection Bill among other relevant
pieces of legislation.”
“The National Assembly should immediately publish all reports of
investigations on corruption and corruption-related matters in the
judiciary, education, power and health sectors among others that have been
conducted by the National Assembly since the return of democracy in 1999.”
“A positive legacy by the in-coming administration on 29 May 2019 and the
recently appointed Inspector General of Police will mean improving
accountability of the police, and proactively working to end all forms of
corruption within the rank and file of the police. The Inspector General
of Police should streamline and prioritise internal control mechanisms by
establishing an Ethics and Integrity Unit at each police station. The unit
should include a human rights officer, an anti-corruption officer, and an
officer responsible for service delivery complaints.”
“The survey targeted a total of 2,655 respondents selected from seven
states spread across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and the
capital city of Abuja. The sample was proportionate to population size
across these zones. The survey covered the police, judiciary, power,
education and health sectors to assess the state of corruption in public
law enforcement and service provision.”
“Data for the survey was collected through a survey among ordinary
citizens picked through simple random sampling of Nigerians above 18
years; in-depth interviews with key governance experts including
representatives of national anti-corruption bodies, trade unions, the
business community, media, lawyers, academia, people living with
disability and university student leaders; and a review of the legal and
institutional frameworks guiding anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria to
assess their effectiveness.”