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N721 billion cash paid as bribes to Nigerian public officials in 2023- NBS

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By Ayorinde Oluokun with NAN Report

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said roughly N721 billion was paid in cash bribes to public officials in Nigeria in 2023, corresponding to 0.35 per cent of the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria.

This is according to the NBS Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends Report released in Abuja on Thursday.

The report is the third round of the corruption survey with the first two rounds held in 2016 and 2019, respectively, across the 36 states and the FCT.

The corruption survey also known as the National Survey on Quality and Integrity of Public Services in Nigeria was implemented by NBS in partnership with United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The report indicated that the average cash bribe was ₦8,284, an increase from an average of ₦5,754 in 2019.

“According to the 2023 survey, the average cash bribe paid was 8,284 Nigerian Naira. While the nominal average cash bribe size increased since 2019 (from NGN 5,754), this does not account for inflation. The inflation-adjusted average cash bribe in 2023 was 29 per cent smaller than in 2019 in terms of what could be bought with the money.

“Overall, it is estimated that a total of roughly NGN 721 billion (US$1.26 billion) was paid in cash bribes to public officials in Nigeria in 2023, corresponding to 0.35 per cent of the entire Gross Domestic Product of Nigeria,” the report read in part.

The report indicates that 56 per cent of Nigerians interacted with a public official in 2023, down from 63 per cent in 2019.

It noted that despite this reduction, bribery remains widespread, with an average of 5.1 bribes paid per bribe payer, totalling approximately 87 million bribes nationwide. This is a decrease from the 117 million bribes estimated in 2019.

The report also indicated that public officials were more likely to demand bribes while private sector actors included doctors in private hospitals, which increased from 6 per cent in 2019 to 14 per cent in 2023.

Despite this rise, bribery in the public sector remains about twice as high, with public sector contact rates also being twice as high as those in the private sector.

According to the report released on Thursday, in 2023, out of all citizens who paid a bribe, 8.6 per cent reported their experience to an official institution capable of investigating or otherwise following up and acting on that report.

“This represents a marked increase in the bribery reporting rate since 2019 when it stood at 3.6 per cent.

“The increase is primarily driven by developments in the Northern zones, where the bribery reporting rate increased markedly from 4.7 per cent in 2019 to 13.4 per cent in 2023.

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“In the Southern zones, the bribery reporting rate instead decreased moderately from 2.5 per cent in 2019 to 1.7 per cent in 2023.”

The report said more formal procedures were initiated due to reporting at 45 per cent and fewer cases had no follow-up at 17 per cent.

The report also indicated that 70 per cent of Nigerians refused to pay bribes in 2023 on at least one occasion.

According to the report, the bribery refusal rate was found to be highest in the North-West at 76 per cent, although the refusal rate recorded in all the zones was above 60 per cent.

It said in 2023, fewer citizens reported suffering negative consequences after refusing bribe requests at 38 per cent compared with the 49 per cent recorded in 2019.

“This suggests that Nigerians feel increasingly empowered to confront corrupt officials without fear of repercussions.”

The report said in 2023, 21 per cent of all bribe refusers indicated that their main reason for refusing a bribe request was because they had other options of getting what they wanted.

It showed that 42 per cent of bribe -refusers did so because it was the right, moral thing to do while 23 per cent refused because they could not afford the requested gift or payment.

“This data shows that normative concerns as well as cost of living pressures play an important role in explaining why Nigerians refuse to pay bribes.”

The report revealed that corruption ranked fourth among the most significant problems affecting the country in 2023 at 10.9 per cent.

“Corruption came after the cost of living at 22.6 per cent, insecurity and unemployment at 19 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively.

“This suggests relatively stable and high levels of concerns about corruption over time and compared to other concerns such as education or housing.”

The report said Nigerians’ confidence in the government’s anti-corruption effort had been declining over time and across regions.

It said in 2019, more than half of all citizens thought that the government was effective in fighting corruption; however in 2023, the share declined to less than a third of all citizens

“The downward trend in the citizens’ confidence is observable across the entire country, with all six zones recording reductions of more than 10 percentage points between 2019 and 2023.”