Nigerians pay average of six bribes in one year, one in 2 months—NBS
Apart from revealing that a total of N400bn was received in bribes by public officials within a period of one year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in its latest National Corruption Report (NCR), averred that bribe payers in Nigeria pay an average of six bribes in one year, or one bribe every two months.
The new report, released in Abuja, was prepared by the NBS in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The NCR noted that 32.3 per cent of Nigerian adults who had contact with public officials between June 2015 and May 2016 had to pay bribes to the government workers.
According to the report, combining the total number of people who paid bribes to public officials with the frequency of the payments, it means that the estimated that a total of 82.3 million bribes were paid in the 12-month period.
In part, the report said “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”.
“This sum is equivalent to 39 per cent of the combined federal and state education budgets in 2016.
“The average sum paid as a cash bribe in Nigeria is approximately N5,300, which is equivalent to $61 – PPP. This means that every time a Nigerian pays a cash bribe, he or she spends an average of 28.2 per cent of the average monthly salary of N18,900.
“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.”
Besides, NBS report showed that about 85.3 per cent of bribery cases in Nigeria were initiated either directly or indirectly by public officials, adding that almost 70 per cent of bribes were paid before any service was rendered.
Continuing, the report disclosed that “With such a large portion of public officials initiating bribes, which are paid up-front, it seems that many public officials show little hesitation in asking for a kickback to carry out their duty and that bribery is an established part of the administrative procedure in Nigeria”.
