10 most corrupt public officials in Nigeria

Corruption ranked 4th among the most important problems affecting Nigeria, Africa’s most populated country in 2023, after the cost of living, insecurity and unemployment.

A recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that Nigerians paid an estimated 721 billion naira (about $1.26 billion at the average exchange rate during the survey period) in cash bribes last year. This amount represents 0.35% of the country’s GDP.

It is estimated that some 87 million bribes were during the period in review (compared with 117 million estimated in 2019) – the equivalent of an average of 0.8 bribes per adult.

More than 95 per cent of all bribes paid in 2023 were spent in monetary form (cash or money transfer), a slightly larger share than in 2019. Over N700 billion in cash bribes were paid by citizens to public officials in 2023.

In 2023, 70 per cent of Nigerians who were asked to pay a bribe refused to do so on at least one occasion.

According to the report, the cost-of-living crisis, triggered by currency reforms and the partial removal of a fuel subsidy, has emboldened 23% of Nigerians to refuse to pay bribes when demanded.

A sizeable share of all bribe refusers (21 per cent) indicated that their main reason for refusing a bribe request was because they had other options for getting what they wanted.

Bribery was most prevalent among prosecutors, land registry officers, customs and immigration officers, although judges and magistrates received the largest kickbacks, the report stated.