A recent survey has revealed that the most corrupt institution in Nigeria is the police force. According to Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP),of the five major public institutions surveyed, the police emerge as the most corrupt, with the power sector identified as the second most corrupt in the country today.
Other
public institutions identified as corrupt by 70% of Nigerians
surveyed are: the judiciary, education and health ministries. The
survey reveals that the level of corruption has not changed in the
last 5 years.
The
latest report by SERAP entitled Nigeria:
Corruption Perception Survey was
launched today at the Sheraton Hotels, Lagos.
According
to the survey, “a bribe is paid in 54% of interactions with the
police. In fact, there is a 63% probability that an average Nigerian
would be asked to pay a bribe each time he or she interacted with the
police. That is almost two out of three.”
The
chair of the report launch Professor Akin Oyebode said: “Nigeria is
looked upon as a giant of Africa. Yet Nigeria could not conduct free,
fair and credible elections. It is a smear on the image of Nigeria.
If we do away with selective enforcement and condonation of
corruption, we will build and live in a better society. Corruption is
a refined form of stealing. The politicians are stealing our common
patrimony. Development of the people is almost inversely proportional
to the level of corruption.”
The
report read in part: “Corruption remains a significant impediment
to law enforcement, access to justice and basic public services such
as affordable healthcare, education, and electricity supply. Several
Nigerians have to pay a bribe to access police, judiciary, power,
education and health services. Corruption is still a key concern in
the country with 70% of Nigerians describing the level of corruption
as high and in the same measure, stating that corruption levels
either increased or remained the same in the last five years.
“The
national survey carried out between September and December 2018,
covered the police, judiciary, power, education and health sectors to
assess the state of corruption in law enforcement and public service
provision.
“From
the analysis of the anti-corruption legal and institutional framework
in Nigeria, the following cross-cutting issues emerged: there is lack
of political goodwill to consistently enforce the different
anti-corruption laws; inadequate funding for the various
anti-corruption agencies; weak public support and/or ownership of
anti-corruption initiatives; poor clarity of roles between various
anti-corruption agencies; and public perceptions of politicisation of
corruption arrests and prosecutions.
“Bribery
experiences were interrogated and recorded in the key sectors of
education, health, the police, judiciary and power. Data analysis was
conducted under five different and interrelated variables. There was
a 63% probability that an average Nigerian would be asked to pay a
bribe each time he/she interacted with the police. The
likelihood of bribery in the power sector stood at 49%. With
the chances of encountering bribery at the judiciary, education and
health services standing at 27%, 25% and 20% respectively.
“The
police were the most adversely ranked on this indicator. For every
100 police interactions reported by the respondents, there was a
bribe paid in 54 interactions. The prevalence levels stood at 37% in
the power sector and 18% in education,17.7% in the judiciary and 14%
in the health sector.
“51%
of the individuals that paid bribes to the police and 35% to the
power sector believed this was the only way to access the services
sought from the institutions. The ranking of the education sector and
the judiciary was less adverse with 16% perceiving bribery as the
main avenue of accessing services in the institutions, and health
services recording 13%.
“The
police and judiciary had the largest proportion of total bribes paid
at 33% and 31% respectively. Bribes paid for education, power and
health services accounted for 19%, 10.9 and 5% respectively of all
bribes reported. The average amount of bribe paid by the respondents
was highest among those who paid to the judiciary at about Naira
108,000 (US$ 298). All the other institutions ranked lower on this
variable with Naira 12,253 and 11,566 reportedly paid to the police
and education sectors, and Naira 6,462 and 5,143 paid for health and
power services respectively.
“Perceptions
on corruption trends in Nigeria show almost 70% of the respondents
perceived the current level of corruption as high compared to 15.5%
that felt it was low. 70% of the respondents said
corruption levels either increased or remained the same in the last
five years. Only a quarter of the respondents felt corruption reduced
in this period.
“About
41% of the respondents projected that corruption will either increase
or remain the same in the next year. About a third of the respondents
(31.5%) believed the ruling elite are pursuing their selfish
interests only therefore corruption levels will increase into the
future. Additionally, about a quarter of the respondents (24.9%)
believed the current anti-corruption efforts are not comprehensive
enough. The poor state of the economy was also seen as a driving
factor to increased corruption at 17.2%.
“Respondents
identified poor coordination among the different state players as a
key obstacle at 18.4%. Lack of political will from the government and
weak public support were ranked second at 12%. Civic action against
poor governance: 54.8% of the respondents reported that they had not
taken any action against poor governance. That more than a half of
the respondents were unwilling to initiate action is alarming and
points to low confidence levels that appropriate measures would be
taken even if the respondents took action.
“This
assumption is buttressed by the finding that 82% of the actions taken
were either not responded to or deemed sufficiently appropriate. Low
civic action may also indicate low levels of public awareness on what
redress mechanisms exist or how to access them.
“The
Federal government should establish an independent commission of
inquiry to conduct a transparent, comprehensive, and impartial
investigation into systemic corruption within the Nigeria Police
Force, judiciary, and the ministries of power, education and health.
“The
Inspector General of Police should receive and investigate complaints
of bribery and corruption against police officers filed by members of
the public. The police should liaise with community leaders and civil
society organisations in regard to incidents of police bribery and
corruption within the community.
“The
Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council should
identify and review all outstanding cases of judicial corruption and
refer such cases to appropriate anti-corruption agencies. They should
apply the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers in a consistent and
transparent manner, with full respect for the fundamental guarantees
of fair trial and due process.
“The
Chief Justice of Nigeria and the NJC should publish annual reports of
all activities involving the judiciary, including expenditure, and
provide the public with reliable information about its governance and
organisation, including the number of judges found to be corrupt, as
well as ensure that the Chief Justice of Nigeria and all other judges
make periodic asset disclosures.
“The
National Assembly should move swiftly to amend the Code of Conduct
Bureau and Tribunal Act to ensure public access to asset declarations
made by public officials, and urgently pass the Proceeds of Crime
Bill, the Whistleblowers Bill, and the Witness Protection Bill among
other relevant pieces of legislation.
“The
National Assembly should immediately publish all reports of
investigations on corruption and corruption-related matters in the
judiciary, education, power and health sectors among others that have
been conducted by the National Assembly since the return of democracy
in 1999.
“A
positive legacy by the in-coming administration on 29 May 2019 and
the recently appointed Inspector General of Police will mean
improving accountability of the police, and proactively working to
end all forms of corruption within the rank and file of the police.
The Inspector General of Police should streamline and prioritise
internal control mechanisms by establishing an Ethics and Integrity
Unit at each police station. The unit should include a human rights
officer, an anti-corruption officer, and an officer responsible for
service delivery complaints.
“The
survey targeted a total of 2,655 respondents selected from seven
states spread across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria and the
capital city of Abuja. The sample was proportionate to population
size across these zones. The survey covered the police, judiciary,
power, education and health sectors to assess the state of corruption
in public law enforcement and service provision.
“Data
for the survey was collected through a survey among ordinary citizens
picked through simple random sampling of Nigerians above 18 years;
in-depth interviews with key governance experts including
representatives of national anti-corruption bodies, trade unions, the
business community, media, lawyers, academia, people living with
disability and university student leaders; and a review of the legal
and institutional frameworks guiding anti-corruption efforts in
Nigeria to assess their effectiveness.
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