Nigerian Govt Officials Receive over N400bn in Bribes in 1 Year – NBS

Nigerian Govt Officials Receive over N400bn in Bribes in 1 Year – NBS

A shocking report by the National Bureau of Statistics reveals a total of N400bn was received in bribes by public officials within a period of one year.

This was contained in the National Corruption Report of the NBS, where it posited that 32.3 per cent of Nigerian adults had contact with public officials between June 2015 and May 2016 to pay bribes to the government workers.

According to the report, prepared by the NBS in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, majority of those indicted were repeat offenders who indulge in the act at least once every two months, Punch writes.

“Taking into account the fact that nine out of every 10 bribes paid to public officials in Nigeria are paid in cash and the size of the payments made, it is estimated that the total amount of bribes paid to public officials in Nigeria in the 12 months was around N400bn, the equivalent of $4.6bn in purchasing power parity,” the reports stated.

“Since bribe payers in Nigeria pay an average of 5.8 bribes over the course of one year, 92 per cent of which are paid in cash, they spend an average of N28,200 annually on cash bribes – equivalent to 12.5 per cent of the annual average salary.”

The report further stated that almost 70 per cent of bribes were paid before any service was rendered, adding that such bribes could be in other forms as the provision of food and drink, the handing over of valuables or the exchange of another service or favour.

NBS posits that most bribes were paid to speed up or finalise an administrative procedure, some are paid to avoid a fine through frequent encounters with police, while others are paid to avoid the cancellation of public utility services.

Noting that law enforcement agents such as the police and judiciary workers such as judges and magistrates were the highest takers of bribe in Nigeria, the reports added that, “the average bribe paid to police officers is somewhat below the average bribe size.”