……Nigeria Police Emerges Most Improved Organization Against Corruption
The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun on Friday 12th July 2024 held a meeting with officials of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at the IGP’s Smart Conference Hall, Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Louis Edet House, Abuja.
According to a press release signed by the Force PRO, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said that the UNODC team led by the Acting Country Representative UNODC, Mr Danilo Campisi, who stood as a representative for the Executive Director UNODC, Mrs. Ghada Waly, expressed their heartfelt pleasure with regards to the results gotten from their recently conducted corruption survey.
“It is worthy of note that Nigeria is the only country to have carried out a third consecutive corruption survey, with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd happening in 2016, 2019 and 2024 respectively. And the survey results place Nigeria as the country with the most improvement in the fight against corruption. The UNODC further revealed that this survey was carried out strictly based on facts and data and not based on perceptions, Adejobi said.
“This revealed fact indicates the significant growth of the country under its new leadership and consequently, the transformation of the Nigeria Police Force under the administration of the 22nd Indigenous Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun PhD., NPM.
“Expressing his sincere gratitude to the UNODC for their support and commending their efforts and mode of this survey, the IGP emphasized his vision for the Nigeria Police Force and Nigeria as a whole anew, stating that the results of this survey would serve as motivation for the NPF to intensify its efforts in combating crime and corruption and setting a greater standard.
Launched by the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice of Nigeria, the survey finds that fewer citizens reported suffering negative consequences after refusing a bribe request in 2023 compared with 2019 (38 per cent versus 49 per cent), suggesting that Nigerians are becoming increasingly comfortable with confronting corrupt officials without fear of repercussions.
Out of all citizens who paid a bribe, 8.6 per cent reported their experience to an official institution in 2023, a marked rise from 3.6 per cent in 2019. The increase may result from enhanced access to complaints channels and an increased readiness of institutions to take such complaints seriously and initiate a formal procedure. The share of bribery reports that led to the initiation of a formal procedure against a public official increased nearly three-fold between 2019 and 2023, from 16 per cent to 45 per cent, while the share of those who experienced no follow-up after reporting fell from 34 per cent to 17 per cent.
Despite these notable advances, corruption continues to rank among the most important problems affecting Nigerians, after cost of living, insecurity, and unemployment, and there remain challenges to effectively countering corruption in the country.
Roughly US$1.26 billion – or .35 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product – was paid in cash bribes to public officials in 2023. The prevalence of bribe payments in the private sector increased significantly, meanwhile, from 6 per cent in 2019 to 14 per cent in 2023.
A special gender equity and social inclusion component of the survey report highlights that women continue to be less likely to engage in bribery irrespective of where they live, their age, educational background, and employment status. When in contact with public officials, women (28 per cent) are less likely to experience bribery than men (39 per cent). The survey further shows that only 19 per cent of women public officials solicit or take a bribe when interacting with the public, compared to 35 per cent of male public officials.
In addition, the 2023 report found that people with disabilities are as likely as everyone else to be approached for the payment of bribes. Yet having to pay bribes when accessing public services is likely to place a far greater burden on people with disabilities.
The survey concludes with several policy recommendations. The positive attitude and behavioural changes towards corruption could be further encouraged by 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.
“Through this 3rd National Survey, Nigeria leads in establishing international best practices in the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption 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,” said Dr. Oliver Stolpe, Country Representative, UNODC Nigeria.
