from EMEKA OKONKWO in Abuja, Nigeria
Nigeria Bureau
ABUJA, (CAJ News) -NIGERIAN citizens paid roughly US$1,26 billion in bribes to public officials in 2023.
This is according to a new report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Jointly produced with Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with the support of the MacArthur Foundation and the government of Denmark, the report indicates the prevalence of bribe payments in the private sector increased significantly, meanwhile, from 6 percent in 2019 to 14 percent in 2023.
The report, “Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends”, nonetheless established that over 70 percent of Nigerians who were asked to pay a bribe in 2023 refused to do so on at least one occasion.
Out of all citizens who paid a bribe, 8,6 percent reported their experience to an official institution in 2023, a marked rise from 3,6 per cent in 2019.
The increase may be a result of enhanced access to complaints channels and an increased readiness of institutions to take such complaints seriously and initiate a formal procedure.
Oliver Stolpe, representative of the UNODC in Nigeria, said through this third national survey, Nigeria led in establishing international best practice in the implementation of the UN Convention against Corruption.
“This is through the conduct of periodic and scientific assessment of corruption and anti-corruption efforts, reinforcing the importance of evidence-based strategies in the journey towards a corruption-free society,” he said.
The report recommended that the positive attitude and behavioral changes towards corruption could be further encouraged through rewarding honest citizens and public officials, while holding those who do solicit or accept bribes, including those in the criminal justice system and Parliament, accountable.
Complaint mechanisms could be strengthened and made more accessible.
Increasing the use of e-government – and thereby reducing the amount of contact citizens have with public officials – could further reduce the number of bribes paid.
– CAJ News