A new public survey released today by Socio-Economic Rights and
\nAccountability Project (SERAP) reports high levels of corruption in public
\ninstitutions in Nigeria for the past 5 years. Of the five major public
\ninstitutions surveyed, the police emerge as the most corrupt, with the
\npower sector identified as the second most corrupt in the country today.<\/p>\n
Other public institutions identified as corrupt by 70% of Nigerians
\nsurveyed are: the judiciary, education and health ministries. The survey
\nreveals that the level of corruption has not changed in the last 5 years.<\/p>\n
The latest report by SERAP entitled Nigeria: Corruption Perception Survey
\nwas launched today at the Sheraton Hotels, Lagos.<\/p>\n
According to the survey, \u201ca bribe is paid in 54% of interactions with the
\npolice. In fact, there is a 63% probability that an average Nigerian would
\nbe asked to pay a bribe each time he or she interacted with the police.
\nThat is almost two out of three.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chair of the report launch Professor Akin Oyebode said: \u201cNigeria is
\nlooked upon as a giant of Africa. Yet Nigeria could not conduct free, fair
\nand credible elections. It is a smear on the image of Nigeria. If we do
\naway with selective enforcement and condonation of corruption, we will
\nbuild and live in a better society. Corruption is a refined form of
\nstealing. The politicians are stealing our common patrimony. Development
\nof the people is almost inversely proportional to the level of
\ncorruption.\u201d<\/p>\n
The report read in part: \u201cCorruption remains a significant impediment to
\nlaw enforcement, access to justice and basic public services such as
\naffordable healthcare, education, and electricity supply. Several
\nNigerians have to pay a bribe to access police, judiciary, power,
\neducation and health services. Corruption is still a key concern in the
\ncountry with 70% of Nigerians describing the level of corruption as high
\nand in the same measure, stating that corruption levels either increased
\nor remained the same in the last five years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe national survey carried out between September and December 2018,
\ncovered the police, judiciary, power, education and health sectors to
\nassess the state of corruption in law enforcement and public service
\nprovision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the analysis of the anti-corruption legal and institutional
\nframework in Nigeria, the following cross-cutting issues emerged: there is
\nlack of political goodwill to consistently enforce the different
\nanti-corruption laws; inadequate funding for the various anti-corruption
\nagencies; weak public support and\/or ownership of anti-corruption
\ninitiatives; poor clarity of roles between various anti-corruption
\nagencies; and public perceptions of politicisation of corruption arrests
\nand prosecutions.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBribery experiences were interrogated and recorded in the key sectors of
\neducation, health, the police, judiciary and power. Data analysis was
\nconducted under five different and interrelated variables. There was a 63%
\nprobability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a bribe each
\ntime he\/she interacted with the police.\u00a0 The likelihood of bribery in the
\npower sector stood at 49%.\u00a0 With the chances of encountering bribery at
\nthe judiciary, education and health services standing at 27%, 25% and 20%
\nrespectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police were the most adversely ranked on this indicator. For every
\n100 police interactions reported by the respondents, there was a bribe
\npaid in 54 interactions. The prevalence levels stood at 37% in the power
\nsector and 18% in education,17.7% in the judiciary and 14% in the health
\nsector.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c51% of the individuals that paid bribes to the police and 35% to the
\npower sector believed this was the only way to access the services sought
\nfrom the institutions. The ranking of the education sector and the
\njudiciary was less adverse with 16% perceiving bribery as the main avenue
\nof accessing services in the institutions, and health services recording
\n13%.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police and judiciary had the largest proportion of total bribes paid
\nat 33% and 31% respectively. Bribes paid for education, power and health
\nservices accounted for 19%, 10.9 and 5% respectively of all bribes
\nreported. The average amount of bribe paid by the respondents was highest
\namong those who paid to the judiciary at about Naira 108,000 (US$ 298).
\nAll the other institutions ranked lower on this variable with Naira 12,253
\nand 11,566 reportedly paid to the police and education sectors, and Naira
\n6,462 and 5,143 paid for health and power services respectively.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPerceptions on corruption trends in Nigeria show almost 70% of the
\nrespondents perceived the current level of corruption as high compared to
\n15.5% that felt it was low.\u00a0 70% of the respondents said corruption levels
\neither increased or remained the same in the last five years. Only a
\nquarter of the respondents felt corruption reduced in this period.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 41% of the respondents projected that corruption will either
\nincrease or remain the same in the next year. About a third of the
\nrespondents (31.5%) believed the ruling elite are pursuing their selfish
\ninterests only therefore corruption levels will increase into the future.
\nAdditionally, about a quarter of the respondents (24.9%) believed the
\ncurrent anti-corruption efforts are not comprehensive enough. The poor
\nstate of the economy was also seen as a driving factor to increased
\ncorruption at 17.2%.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRespondents identified poor coordination among the different state
\nplayers as a key obstacle at 18.4%. Lack of political will from the
\ngovernment and weak public support were ranked second at 12%. Civic action
\nagainst poor governance: 54.8% of the respondents reported that they had
\nnot taken any action against poor governance. That more than a half of the
\nrespondents were unwilling to initiate action is alarming and points to
\nlow confidence levels that appropriate measures would be taken even if the
\nrespondents took action.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis assumption is buttressed by the finding that 82% of the actions
\ntaken were either not responded to or deemed sufficiently appropriate. Low
\ncivic action may also indicate low levels of public awareness on what
\nredress mechanisms exist or how to access them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Federal government should establish an independent commission of
\ninquiry to conduct a transparent, comprehensive, and impartial
\ninvestigation into systemic corruption within the Nigeria Police Force,
\njudiciary, and the ministries of power, education and health.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Inspector General of Police should receive and investigate complaints
\nof bribery and corruption against police officers filed by members of the
\npublic. The police should liaise with community leaders and civil society
\norganisations in regard to incidents of police bribery and corruption
\nwithin the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council should
\nidentify and review all outstanding cases of judicial corruption and refer
\nsuch cases to appropriate anti-corruption agencies. They should apply the
\nCode of Conduct for Judicial Officers in a consistent and transparent
\nmanner, with full respect for the fundamental guarantees of fair trial and
\ndue process.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Chief Justice of Nigeria and the NJC should publish annual reports of
\nall activities involving the judiciary, including expenditure, and provide
\nthe public with reliable information about its governance and
\norganisation, including the number of judges found to be corrupt, as well
\nas ensure that the Chief Justice of Nigeria and all other judges make
\nperiodic asset disclosures.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe National Assembly should move swiftly to amend the Code of Conduct
\nBureau and Tribunal Act to ensure public access to asset declarations made
\nby public officials, and urgently pass the Proceeds of Crime Bill, the
\nWhistleblowers Bill, and the Witness Protection Bill among other relevant
\npieces of legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe National Assembly should immediately publish all reports of
\ninvestigations on corruption and corruption-related matters in the
\njudiciary, education, power and health sectors among others that have been
\nconducted by the National Assembly since the return of democracy in 1999.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA positive legacy by the in-coming administration on 29 May 2019 and the
\nrecently appointed Inspector General of Police will mean improving
\naccountability of the police, and proactively working to end all forms of
\ncorruption within the rank and file of the police. The Inspector General
\nof Police should streamline and prioritise internal control mechanisms by
\nestablishing an Ethics and Integrity Unit at each police station. The unit
\nshould include a human rights officer, an anti-corruption officer, and an
\nofficer responsible for service delivery complaints.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe survey targeted a total of 2,655 respondents selected from seven
\nstates spread across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and the
\ncapital city of Abuja. The sample was proportionate to population size
\nacross these zones. The survey covered the police, judiciary, power,
\neducation and health sectors to assess the state of corruption in public
\nlaw enforcement and service provision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cData for the survey was collected through a survey among ordinary
\ncitizens picked through simple random sampling of Nigerians above 18
\nyears; in-depth interviews with key governance experts including
\nrepresentatives of national anti-corruption bodies, trade unions, the
\nbusiness community, media, lawyers, academia, people living with
\ndisability and university student leaders; and a review of the legal and
\ninstitutional frameworks guiding anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria to
\nassess their effectiveness.\u201d<\/p>\n
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n