Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has said that the largest cash bribes were paid to elected local and state government officials as revealed by the 2019 Corruption Survey.
Relatively large average amounts were also paid to embassy and consulate officers, prosecutors, Federal Road Safety Corps officials, land registry officers and judges and magistrates..
In form of cash payments and in percentage terms, police officers and tax/revenue officers received 96 per cent of their bribes in the form of cash payment as did 95 per cent of public utility officers; 94 per cent of Federal Road Safety Corps.
The document also said that much smaller average amounts were paid to teachers and lecturers, doctors, nurses and midwives, vehicle inspection officers, public utility officers, and tax/revenue officers.
“It should be noted that these averages are strongly influenced by a few large bribes identified in the 2019 survey, which raise the average bribe sizes considerably.
“These disparities suggest very distinct dynamics in the payment of bribes, depending on the public official on the receiving end of those payments.
It is notable that the largest average bribes are paid to public officials with whom most citizens have little contact in their daily lives. This suggests that large bribes, although relatively rare, are generally paid to influence important decisions by public officials, which can have substantial economic or personal consequences (for example, by influencing elected representatives, embassy/consulate officers, or prosecutors and judges). Conversely, the dynamics behind smaller bribes seem to be related to public officials with whom Nigerians have more frequent contact (such as police officers, public utility officers and tax/revenue officers) as well as to bribes that are paid to avoid moderate fines or sanctions, to maintain utility connections or to reduce tax payments” the survey said.
Whereas prosecutors and land registry officials were among the top three in two out of the three northern zones (North-Central and North-West), tax/revenue officers were among the top three in the North-East and South-East. All other officials appeared in only one zone among the top three types of official in relation to whom the prevalence of bribery was highest, the survey, said.