‘Nigerians’ confidence in anti-graft war dwindling’

• AGF, EFCC boss demand speedy passage of Whistleblowing Protection Bill

A new National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report has revealed that Nigerians’ confidence in the government’s anti-corruption effort has been declining over time and across regions.
   
NBS, in its third survey on corruption, entitled ‘Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and Trends’, published yesterday, said while in 2019, more than half of all citizens thought that the government was effective in fighting corruption, in 2023, the poll declined to less than a third of all citizens.
   
The report survey was conducted by NBS, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) funded by the MacArthur Foundation and the Kingdom of Denmark.
 
It stated that the downward trend in the citizens’ confidence was observable across the country, with all six zones recording reductions of more than 10 percentage points between 2019 and 2023 in the share of citizens, who thought the government was fighting corruption effectively.
 
The report also stated that Nigerians rank corruption as the fourth greatest problem affecting the country in 2023, after the cost of living, insecurity and unemployment. However, while the citizens do not trust the government’s anti-corruption efforts, the report shows that Nigerians are beginning to reject corruption as a way of life.
 
According to the report, 70 per cent of Nigerians, who were asked to pay a bribe in 2023, refused to do so on at least one occasion. It said the bribery refusal rate was found to be highest in the North West (at 76 per cent), although all zones recorded refusal rates above 60 per cent.
   
This was corroborated by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Adeyemi Adeniran, who noted that despite the growing concern on the impact of corruption on the nation, a significant 70 per cent of Nigerians refused to pay bribe when asked to by corrupt officials in 2023.

This is as Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Lateef Fagbemi, called for protection of whistleblowers, saying it is crucial for the success of anti-corruption detection and enforcement. 
   
The Statistician-General maintained that despite challenges, there is a notable increase in the rate of bribery reporting, rising from 3.6 per cent in 2019 to 8.6 per cent in 2023. He said the development reflected the growing awareness and willingness among Nigerians to confront corruption, and the positive impact of the efforts of anti-corruption agencies in raising awareness, including getting Nigerians to report any incidence. 
   
Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, lamented that seven years after the launch of the whistle-blowing policy, it has lost momentum and failed to sustain the impact that followed its launch. 
   
He blamed the development to a combination of factors ranging from policy flaws to implementation hiccups, saying in the area of policy, stakeholders within the anti-corruption community have faulted the absence of a legal framework for the programme.

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