Nigeria: Under 3 Years Of Buhari Administration, Corruption Has Only Reduced Marginally By 2%

Demand for bribes by public servants has only reduced marginally by 2% in Nigeria according to a new Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) survey.

The survey titled: Corruption in Nigeria: Pattern and Trends was released Friday by the NBS.

According to the report, 30.2% out of Nigerians who had contact with public officials 12 months before the survey in 2019 paid bribes or were asked to pay bribes, a slight decrease from the 32.35% in 2016 .

This, however, represents a little decline of 2% since 2016. 

According to the report, “Out of all Nigerian citizens who had at least one contact with a public official in the 12 months prior to the 2019 survey, 30.2 per cent paid a bribe to, or were asked to pay a bribe by, a public official.”

Despite the slight decrease in the prevalence of bribery, the report shows that Nigerians that paid bribes have increased the frequency at which they pay bribes. 

While in 2016 the frequency of bribes per individual per year was at 5.8,  it rose to 6 in 2019.

The report also shows rate of corruption in the North- Central, South-East and South-South zones of the country have increased since 2016, while in the North-East, North-West and South-West zones, significant decrease was recorded from 36% in 2016 to 25% in 2019.

In 2015, President Mohammadu Buhari had vowed during his election campaign to fight against all forms of corruption and insecurity in Nigeria, following decades of corruption by the political class and the public office holders which account for the highest share of corruption cases since 1999.