A report titled “Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends”, based off a survey conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has alleged that Nigerians spent about ₦721 Billion on bribes to public officials in 2023, which represents about 0.35% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“According to the 2023 survey, the average cash bribe paid was ₦8,284. While the nominal average cash bribe size increased since 2019 (from ₦5,754), this does not account for inflation. The inflation-adjusted average cash bribe in 2023 was 29 per cent smaller than in 2019 in terms of what could be bought with the money.
“Overall, it is estimated that a total of roughly ₦721 billion (US$1.26 billion) was paid in cash bribes to public officials in Nigeria in 2023, corresponding to 0.35 per cent of the entire Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria,” the report read.
The report also said the number of bribery incidents dropped to 87 million bribes nationwide, from the 117 million bribes estimated in 2019.
On payment mode, the report noted that over 95 per cent of bribes were paid in monetary form (cash or money transfer) in 2023. It also said bribery in the private sector have risen from 6% to 14% between 2019 and 2023.
The report shows a growing trend of Nigerians refusing to pay bribes. In 2023, 70 per cent of those asked to pay a bribe refused at least once, with the highest refusal rates in the North-West zone at 76 per cent. All regions recorded refusal rates above 60 per cent. This indicates that Nigerians are increasingly standing against corruption.
Furthermore, not less than 60 per cent of public sector workers were hired due to nepotism, bribery or both between 2020 and 2023.
The report noted that six out of 10 successful candidates admitted to using either nepotism, bribery, or both to improve their chances of being recruited.
Specifically, 27% of these candidates admitted to using only bribery, 13% to only nepotism, and 19% to both bribery and nepotism. On the other hand, 40% of the candidates claimed to have secured their positions without resorting to any such means, based on data collected between November 2020 and October 2023.
The report read, “The selection process used to recruit public officials plays a crucial role in shaping the culture of integrity that should drive the civil service as well as ensure that recruits have the highest standards of professionalism and merit.
However, the 2023 survey findings indicate that the public sector recruitment process requires closer monitoring, as almost half (46 per cent) of people who secured a job in the public sector in the last three years before the survey admitted that they paid a bribe to facilitate their recruitment – about 1.5 times the share found in the 2019 survey (31%).
“The 2023 survey also found evidence that a considerable number of people recruited into the public sector secured their posts with the help of a friend or relative, many in addition to paying a bribe: of all successful applicants in the last three years before the 2023 survey, 32% were helped by friends or relatives. Overall, in the three years before the 2023 survey, around 60% of public sector applicants in Nigeria were hired as a result of nepotism, bribery or both – about 1.2 times the share found in the 2019 survey.”
It was also disclosed that bribery is more common in rural areas, with rural residents paying an average of 5.8 bribes compared to 4.5 bribes in urban areas.
It was also disclosed that bribery is more common in rural areas, with rural residents paying an average of 5.8 bribes compared to 4.5 bribes in urban areas.
The report stated that corruption was ranked fourth among the most important problems affecting the country in 2023, after the cost of living, insecurity and unemployment.
It added, “This suggests relatively stable and high levels of concerns about corruption over time and compared to other concerns such as education or housing.
“Nigerians confidence in the government’s anti-corruption effort has been declining over time and across regions. While in 2019, more than half of all citizens thought that the government was effective in fighting corruption, in 2023, the share declined to lessons than a third of all citizens. The downward trend in the citizen’s confidence is observable across the entire country, with all six zones recording reductions of more than 10 percentage points between 2019 and 2023 in terms of the share of citizens who thought the government was effective in fighting corruption.”
