Police most corrupt institution in Nigeria, reveals SERAP survey

A new public survey released today by Socio-Economic Rights and
Accountability Project (SERAP) reports high levels of corruption in
public institutions in Nigeria for the past 5 years. 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.”