The report is another wake-up call on corruption

Last Friday in Abuja, Chatham House, a London-based think tank, held a stakeholders’ forum to launch its latest research findings on corruption in Nigeria. After assessing efforts to tackle the phenomenon since the end of military rule in the late 1990s, the report concludes that these efforts have yielded uneven results, having been hindered by politicisation, weak institutions and double standards among leaders. According to the Chatham House report, corruption has caused a crisis of trust in Nigeria’s institutions and society. Some of the salient conclusions are that failure to reduce corruption has led to political clientelism and impunity and created a perception among citizens that there is no accountability for those involved, and higher risks for those who resist. Many Nigerians are also keen to stand up against corruption, but feel resigned, sensing that it is the price for getting things done.

Drawing on research by its Social Norms and Accountable Governance project – including its fourth (and most recent) annual national household survey, conducted in partnership with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2023, Chatham House calls for a change in approach to anti-corruption. It presents evidence that bringing together reformers across different sectors can help change underlying social norms perpetuating corruption as an enabler of lasting reforms. Institutions, according to the report, are not self-enforcing. Neither are reforms self-implementing. In corrupted systems, values such as integrity, transparency and public service need credible and competent individuals to demonstrate them. The paper therefore presents a plan of action – applicable across institutions and sectors – for supporting Nigeria’s integrity role models and amplifying their voices in the fight against corruption.

Author of the report, Leena Koni Hoffmann, Associate Fellow of the Chatham House Africa Programme, says there are “numerous exceptions to corruption rules in Nigeria,” and that “contrary to the perception of corruption’s prevalence in society, not everybody is engaging in it. We have people who resist corruption in our own lives.” Data from the Chatham House survey, according to Hoffman, reveals that “as a community, as a society, Nigerians have strong values around fairness, around civic duty despite the effects of systemic corruption. So, the software of society isn’t completely corrupted.”

Meanwhile, it is not too difficult to track some of these sharp practices in Nigeria. For instance, the annual report of the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation reveals some of these issues. Some of the infractions include details of unauthorised deductions from money due to the federation account by revenue collecting agencies, irregularities in payment and expenditure, irregularities in contract award and execution, etc. With the audit reports, the link between abuse of, or general disregard for extant rules and corruption cannot be made clearer. Once rules are ignored, as is evident in the annual reports by the auditor general, all other templates for transparency and accountability lose their validity. Unfortunately, Nigerians hardly pay attention to the reports.

We hope that relevant authorities will adopt the Chatham House report which highlights the role of integrity role models in coordinating actions against corruption in Nigeria. Some of the recommendations include putting in place penalties that are socially meaningful, celebrating good behaviours while disincentivising bad ones. The federal government is also asked to work with the legislative branch to finally mandate asset declaration and public disclosure of such information to citizens. While calling for legislation to protect whistleblowers, the report states that “Nigerians should be able to monitor the wealth status of their leaders over time.”

Representatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC), Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and other agencies of government were at the session. We hope they will take in highlights from the report in their efforts to instill transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s public life.

​